Both the Shellharbour Regional Economic Development Strategy - 2023 Update and The Illawarra Regional Airport Strategic and Business Plan 2015 identify the airport as having potential to create a vibrant business hub that contributes to regional economic development, tourism and employment. The preparation of the master plan enables council to better understand the current limitations created by the existing infrastructure in achieving this vision.

In simple terms, the master plan considers the pros and cons of each potential future scenario.

Now we can begin to undertake detailed safety and business cases, which involves getting input from regulators and airline operators.

This step assesses the viability of any expanded airline operations and outlines what infrastructure upgrades would be required to facilitate safe operations of the Airport. The safety and business cases will include modelling and analysis on critical operational factors, for example:

• Aircraft noise
• Flight paths
• Take-off and landing procedures

The table below provides examples of aircraft under each scenario.

Yes, impacts to the environment will be considered before making a decision regarding expanded airline operations.

The Master Plan is not a statutory document, which means further planning will be required before any infrastructure developments can start. This detailed planning phase will include an environmental impact assessment.

Land acquisition is unlikely to be required for Scenario 2, however, the Master Plan indicates that some land acquisition would be needed to achieve Scenario 3.

The Master Plan does not in and of itself provide approval to acquire land or develop land.

Scenario 2 and Scenario 3 are not expected to have any impact on recreational aircraft. Drones currently have a 5.5km restricted zone around airports, which is regulated by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). You can find more information surrounding drone rules on their website.

Project funding opportunities would be considered as part of the future business and safety case to be undertaken.

Operational hours for either potential scenario would need to be determined at a future date, in consultation with airline operators.

Pricing of flights is determined by individual airline operators. Council has no influence on ticket pricing.