Wagga Wagga Airport

Updated August 2022

Committee 4 Wagga is committed to fully supporting Wagga Wagga City Council’s (WWCC) bid for a major upgrade of the city’s airport. Wagga Wagga Airport no longer has the space or facilities to provide safe, comfortable and efficient passenger services or experiences. 

The airport is a significant gateway to and from the region and plays a key role in connecting our community with the rest of Australia for a range of reasons, including health, education, defence, business and tourism. With the city and its surrounds identified as an area of significant growth for regional NSW, it’s critical to maintain and improve on essential assets such as this to ensure the capacity meets the expanding demands.
 
Committee 4 Wagga is writing a letter of support as WWCC looks at ways to fund an upgrade of the airport terminal, surrounds and carparks.

The Wagga Wagga airport is the gateway to the Riverina by air. The current passenger terminal facilities have been outgrown and don’t meet the expectations of the travelling public for a city the size of Wagga Wagga and certainly will not be adequate for a city of 100,000 people.

The current leasing arrangements for the airport impedes Wagga Wagga City Council’s capacity to accumulate funds for much needed capital improvements or upgrades to the airport facility and to make the precinct attractive to capital investment from the private sector. Committee for Wagga is supportive of the Wagga Wagga City Council continuing to explore means by which a more favourable tenancy arrangement can be obtained with the Federal Government, which will enable both commercial development and a much-enhanced experience for the travelling public.

The Department of Defence has committed to work collaboratively with the Wagga Wagga City Council who are currently developing a master plan for the city’s airport.

Background

The Wagga Wagga Airport is a critical piece of transport infrastructure connecting the regional population of over 185,000 people directly to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The land is currently owned by the Commonwealth of Australia and leased to Wagga Wagga City Council until 2025. This arrangement is unusual and restricts growth and development activity at the airport. Under the current lease arrangement prospective investors considering the land for development are unable to gain secure tenure of title from the Council and therefore will continue to seek opportunities elsewhere. 

In most instances, regional Aerodromes across Australia were established by the Commonwealth for military use. As defence activity has become more concentrated in fewer locations and regular passenger transport has become the primary function of many airports the Federal Government recognised the need to transfer ownership to Local Government. Under the Aerodrome Local Ownership Plan (ALOP) a transfer of ownership for 230 out of 234 regional aerodromes was undertaken between 1992 and 1993, in the majority of instances the transfer was made for $1 and additional funding was provided to the local Council for maintenance and capital works. Wagga’s airport was one of the 4 aerodromes not transferred due to the presence of the RAAF Base adjacent to the airport. The RAAF Base has since been reclassified as a non-flying base and interactions between the Base and the taxiways reduced. 

Ownership by the Federal Government rather than either Council or the private sector significantly affects the city’s ability to attract investment and economic development at the airport due to lack of financial security over the long term. Land adjacent an airport is valuable real estate, evidenced in Canberra where the airport is privately owned. In 1998 the ownership of the Canberra Airport transferred to private ownership. At the time of the sale, the infrastructure was ageing and no significant structures existed aside from the terminal and hangers. Since then the land has been developed to feature a new $420M terminal and 3 unique business parks accommodating over 7,000 employees in 170,000m2 of office and retail space. 

While the aerodrome at Wagga Wagga exhibits different characteristics and serves a different demographic to the Canberra Airport, the opportunities for economic development through private investment should be recognised and a mix of ownership between Federal Government, Local Government and the private sector be considered as outlined below: 

• Transfer to Local Government the ownership of land accommodating the runway, taxiways, terminal, carpark and associated facilities. 

• Federal Government to continue ownership of land accommodating the RAAF Base to ensure the Defence Force’s capability is maintained as a high priority. 

• Private investment opportunities made available for land suitable for aviation related development. 

In April 2020 Committee for Wagga wrote to the Member for Riverina, the Hon Michael McCormack, proposing that the construction of a new passenger terminal at the Wagga Wagga airport would satisfy the Federal Government’s aim of investing in infrastructure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wagga Wagga City Council currently has a Wagga Wagga Airport Master Plan (2010) which may require revision in order to achieve the proposed new passenger terminal.

98% of regional aerodromes have been transferred to local government ownership.