Sunshine Coast Airport expansion project

Background

The Sunshine Coast Airport is a key domestic and international gateway to the region and is critical in providing essential services to facilitate social and economic growth for the residents and businesses of the Sunshine Coast.

The airport is centrally located within the Sunshine Coast region and conveniently located within 10kms of the Maroochydore City Centre with easy access to the Sunshine Motorway opening up both hinterland and coastal destinations.

The airport is embarking on a phase of significant growth and development over the coming years, which will enable the realisation of key strategic outcomes including:

increasing commercial aviation to further support tourism and business travel, particularly in the lead up to the 2032 Olympic Games
investment in the delivery of an expanded aerospace precinct to improve infrastructure to better position the region's general aviation sector for growth and development
promoting and facilitating the region's food and agribusiness industry through access to interstate and international import and export markets
building resilience and diversification in the airport business to secure new revenue streams, by developing activities that are complimentary to the functions of the airport.

History of Sunshine Coast Airport

The airport was officially opened in 1961 under the name Maroochy Airport. View a timeline of the key events (PNG, 616.8KB) to date at the airport.

Ownership status

The airport is owned by Sunshine Coast Council and is managed and operated by Sunshine Coast Airport Pty Ltd under a 99-year lease agreement which commenced in December 2017.

Under the airport's lease arrangement, the Sunshine Coast Airport Pty Ltd has prepared the Sunshine Coast Master Plan 2040, which provides a roadmap for realising the potential for the airport. The master plan does not provide for any statutory use rights but provides an insight into the long-term planning for the airport.

Nomination for priority declaration area declaration

Sunshine Coast Council at its Special Meeting on 8 November 2021 agreed to support an application to Economic Development Queensland for the airport to be declared by regulation as a priority development area (PDA) under section 37(1) of the Economic Development Acy 2012. The decision on whether to proceed with a PDA declaration will be made by the Minister for Economic Development Queensland.

Upon a PDA declaration, there are two types of regulatory instruments controlling development: firstly, an interim land use plan (ILUP) and secondly, a development scheme.

The ILUP comes into force on declaration of the PDA and remains in place for 12 months until the overarching development scheme is adopted by the Minister for Economic Development Queensland. The community is consulted during preparation of the development scheme through a statutory public notification period.

Further details regarding a PDA declaration can be made to Economic Development Queensland.

Sunshine Coast Airport expansion project

The Sunshine Coast Airport expansion project (SCAEP) included construction of the existing north-west/south-east runway, which commenced construction in March 2019 and was completed in June 2020.

This runway is longer and wider than the previous runway and is now compliant with regulatory standards. It includes:

a 2450m long by 45m wide north-west/south-east runway, capable of servicing aircraft such as the A350 and B787
a parallel taxiway (half length)
changes to airspace and flight paths
an expansion of the apron at the existing terminal.