Email was received from Airport Manager a few days ago notifying us of closure of the Moruya Airport to all fixed wing operations for up to 3 weeks from the end of February 2019. This is to allow works to be carried out on the main North South runway although we were not told why the closure needs to apply to the cross runway 04/22. This came without any consultation with the users which include Rex, SkydiveOz , a flying school , a maintenance organisation as well as a large number of hangar owners and private operators. It will be really nice if we get a bushfire similar to the one that devastated Tathra in March if fixed wing waterbombing cannot be used. Just unbelievable !

The skydiving guy says he will lose $115000 as a minimum plus his 17 employees. I should also mention that this is peak season for scenic flights and training. Of course no compensation has been offered by Eurobodalla Council and no doubt we will be expected to continue to pay rent and access fees for the period in question.

Well I would go along with that if they could explain why they need to close the cross runway which they are not working on. Except for Rex , the GA people could manage if they kept 04/22 open . The intention is to resurface the main runway to spend the grant Malcolm Turnbull gave them before the last election. I’m not sure how Rex are taking it but I imagine not well seeing as they have been working hard to improve their service over the last year or so. Apparently there is only a $5 profit on each ticket sold , so not easy for them. I recall Canberra Airport extended and resufaced 17/35 some years ago with minimal disruption to the users. We are advised the reason for the timing in peak season is that it’s better weather for resealing?

Why can’t they just close the airport each night, like everyone else goes when they need to do runway works?

You need to get out more!

So when is Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane going to close their runways?

I’ve seen it done before, the runway is closed overnight and they resurface bits at a time, then it’s ready and open the next morning.

For the past few months they have been doing works towards developing hangar sites on the Southwestern end of the airport. This has included roadworks, laying of water and sewage pipes, as well as relocating power poles. In the usual way this has been very slow and I suspect is now well over budget. We were promised “finished by Christmas “ but alas....Maybe this is the reason for trying to save $ on the runway reseal.

If the Council persist with this intransigence do any of you lawyer types think we could get an injunction to delay the works pending proper consultation etc?

Maybe the shire is acting on engineering advice that the re seal needs to be done ASAP. Anyone have first hand knowledge as to the condition of the runway? Was there cracking, rutting or other faults?
The required level of notice for a closure for planned works is 14 days but where airlines are concerned you would normally give as much notice as possible.

Ask for a copy of the Method of Working Plan. That should explain what, how and why?

We understand that the works are being funded by a grant from the Commonwealth which was handed out by Malcolm Turnbull as part of an unsuccessful attempt to save his candidate Dr Peter Hendy at the 2016 election. Moruya lies in the very marginal seat of Eden Monaro. They were trying to create the illusion that the Airport would be upgraded to take larger aircraft and maybe even jet traffic. That was in 2016 so the council has had a bit of time to prepare for this.
The users have asked for a copy of the Method of Working Plan but it has not been made available to us as yet. Everybody is aware that there are problems with the main runway requiring frequent patching because it sits on top of sand so gets a lot of movement.
Our main beef is their decision to close the whole place down for 3 weeks including the 04/22 cross runway which is not subject to the work except for its intersection with 18/36 . It will be hugely expensive for all the businesses operating from here.

I suspect the problem is loss of available length and OLS penetration by equipment during works.

Interesting that this came out just a few days before Christmas so it’s very difficult to get advice or assistance. By the time everybody gets back to work in January it will almost be time for the closure.