Melbourne Airport’s main north-south runway upgrades are nearing completion, with works entering the final stage, involving airfield ground lighting upgrades that will take place in the coming months.
Due to a delay in government approvals for some of the works, the original estimated completion time of the end of 2023 has been pushed back, with a new timeline of March.
So far, 2500 metres of runway has been replaced using more than 38,000 tonnes of asphalt, including 20 per cent recycled material produced on site from existing asphalt stocks.
Melbourne Airport chief of aviation Jim Parashos said the works were once in a decade and it was imperative to get them right.
“These safety-critical, preventive maintenance works have been undertaken with a focus on sustainability, inclusivity and collaboration to ensure the runway remains in a sound condition to support aircraft movements for the next 10-12 years,” he said.
“Closing our main runway whilst continuing operations at a 24-7 curfew free airport has been challenging… temporary overnight closures of the north-south runway will remain in place five nights a week from 1am through to 6am to facilitate the final stages of this project.
“We have strategically scheduled some heavy aircraft types to arrive and depart earlier or later than the night-time closures, due to operational limitations on the east-west runway, this will have the added benefit of minimising impact to nearby communities.
“While we have made efforts to reduce the impact, we do anticipate that communities to the east and west of the airport will experience some additional flight activity during those night-time closures.”
