Canberra is the only curfew-free, 747/A380-capable airport between Brisbane and Melbourne. Canberra is already the nominated alternate port to Sydney for a number of airlines. Only a month ago, wild weather in Sydney saw nine flights, including one international flight, diverted to Canberra where they landed, refuelled, and took off again for Sydney when it cleared. Canberra Airport is two-thirds of the way through a $420 million terminal upgrade, including full international capability (immigration, customs, quarantine) which will be completed in less than 12 months. We anticipate direct international flights by the middle of next year. Add a high-speed rail service between Australia's largest city and the nation's capital and a real solution to Sydney's aviation capacity challenge is at hand. Theoretically, the notion of a “second Sydney airport” geographically places that facility in or very near Sydney. But, as the Premier has rightly pointed out, the theory is monumentally difficult to put into practice because of its impact on nearby communities.

Moreover, geography becomes less important when you consider an hour by high-speed rail between Canberra and Sydney would simply replicate the travelling time from Tullamarine to Melbourne CBD, or Charles de Gaulle to the heart of Paris, or Heathrow to London. As I see it, the Premier hasn't proposed that Canberra become “Sydney's second airport”, nor that Canberra replace the major function of Sydney Airport, but rather that Canberra Airport be utilised as part of a solution to Sydney's looming aviation capacity problem, which could avoid the need to build another airport. Let's be clear, the Premier is thinking long term here. A second airport or a high-speed rail service are a decade away. But right now, Canberra Airport is ready to, and does, pick up Sydney's "problem" traffic: the outside-curfew flights, the weather-diverted flights. And it can take more. Canberra Airport has no need to be “Sydney's second airport” – we are the gateway to the nation's capital, but we are ready to be part of Sydney's capacity solution. Stephen Byron is the managing director of Canberra Airport.

Western Sydney deserves its airport In the 25 years it will take to develop a fully functioning airport at Badgerys Creek, the population of Western Sydney will have grown to 4 million. Canberra has a great airport that has helped transform the national capital into one of the most vibrant economic and employment zones in Australia. It is very well-managed and has become an international poster-boy for infrastructure privatisation. I spent the past two years on the joint Federal/State Commission examining Sydney's aviation growth and we proudly rejected plans for a residential development at Queanbeyan that would have retarded Canberra Airport.

However, another very important decision of our committee was to reject the notion that Canberra Airport (or Newcastle Airport) could act as the second Sydney Airport – with or without a $120-billion high-speed rail link. Sydney Airport is one of the world's best performing facilities. This land-locked, inner-city site has enormous growth pressures on its terminals and runways, and more critically, the surrounding transport links – but it is here to stay as the country's premier gateway. For this reason, we said that Sydney Airport needs the immediate right to grow its own traffic – but Sydney also needs the staged development of a local, secondary facility to handle the overflow in years come. We unanimously determined that the best site is Badgerys Creek – based on scientific advice from global experts, balancing environmental safeguards, topography, economic development, cost and proximity – followed by a Wilton/Richmond combination. The 450,000 residents of the Canberra area need their own airport. The 650,000 population of the Hunter need Newcastle Airport. And, the 2.5 million people of Western Sydney need their airport.

In the 25 years it will take to develop a fully functioning airport at Badgerys Creek, that population of Western Sydney will have grown to 4 million – yet under current planning the area will still have no airport. How can we tell the kids of Penrith, Bankstown, Parramatta, Campbelltown, Castle Hill and Blacktown that they aren't good enough to share in the smart jobs that airports bring? How do we tell the businesses of the greater west that they can't have the same access to export markets across the nation and around the world as their counterparts in Martin Place or Melbourne? All decisions about airport sites are fraught with danger for the politicians in the hot seat and I do not envy Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese or NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell in trying to forge a compromise. But that's what we elected them to do. Sydney Airport needs less politics and more science. Surely it needs the wisdom and professional dispassion that can be brought to bear by Infrastructure Australia and Infrastructure NSW, under their highly respected chairmen, Sir Rod Eddington and Nick Greiner, acting as circuit breakers for Canberra and Macquarie Street? Mind you, whatever they recommend and whatever the minister and premier ultimately decide, Sydney's future, Sydney's solution and Sydney's next airport have to be in Sydney, not in Canberra.

Christopher Brown was a member of the joint Federal/State Commission examining Sydney's aviation needs. Loading Follow the National Times on Twitter: @NationalTimesAU * Click here for The Sun-Herald's The Loaded Dog