7.1.5.2  Projected demand

Demand for Australia's airport services is expected to grow considerably over the period to 2031. This will be driven by leisure tourism activities and the regional expansion of strategic resource and agriculture activities.

The trend towards a more globalised and intra-national business supply chains will continue. As businesses become more strongly linked to suppliers and customer markets beyond their immediate vicinity, they are increasingly reliant on air-based services to move workers and freight.

The DEC for airport infrastructure services in Australia is projected to grow to $40.9 billion by 2031, an increase of 97.9 per cent from 2011 and an annualised growth rate of 3.5 per cent over the period.

Figure 39: Growth in DEC for airport infrastructure services - 2011 to 2031 (2011 prices)

Source: ACIL Allen Consulting (2014a)

Queensland is expected to overtake NSW in terms of the DEC of airport infrastructure by 2031.

This will be largely driven by high levels of population growth in Queensland, as well as air services supporting growth in the resources sector.

The Audit projects strong growth in the DEC for airport services in WA, with a forecast growth rate of 5.1 per cent per year from 2011 to 2031. The DEC for the regions of Perth and the Pilbara is expected to more than double over this period,212 largely due to the expected growth in air services to support the resources sector, as well as an increase in Perth's role as a hub for travel to South-East Asia and Middle Eastern destinations.

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212.  ACIL Allen Consulting (2014a)