THE push for a second Sydney airport will intensify today with Victoria set to announce a blueprint for a third airport for the Harbour City's biggest competitor.

The move by the Victorian government for a third aviation hub for Melbourne has sparked calls for Premier Barry O'Farrell to end the "political dilly-dallying" over whether Sydney needs a second airport.

A blueprint for the Melbourne's development, to be released today, has recommended a new major commercial passenger airport on the city's southeastern fringe.

The airport would be a hub for domestic flights - hosting 300-seater passenger planes - with potential for it to expand to international flights as a second stage.

It would be a third major airport, alongside Tullamarine and Avalon, for Melbourne.

Transport and Tourism Forum chief executive John Lee last night said the report highlighted the need for the state government to "stop the political dilly-dallying that's been happening for fifty years about a second airport for Sydney."

"It would be a tragedy for NSW if Victoria get the march in terms of aviation and have a third airport within the Melbourne metropolis while Sydney is still yet to even agree on where a second airport is to be sited," he said.

Mr Lee believes Melbourne has succeeded in selling itself as the "events capital of Australia" over the past decade, and fears plans for a third airport are part of a similar push for aviation dominance.

"It is fair to say that this proposal could mean they will surge ahead of us in aviation," Mr Lee said.

"We are approaching a time when the four million people of Sydney need certainty about a second airport.

Over the next 10 to 15 years we must lock down a site." Earlier this month the state government's infrastructure chief Nick Greiner recommended a second Sydney airport be built - at Badgerys Creek, rather than the federal government's preferred site at Wilton on the city's far southern outskirts.

Infrastructure NSW's strategy called for a new airport at Badgerys Creek to be operating within 20 years.

Former prime minister Paul Keating told The Daily Telegraph in March that inaction on another airport for Sydney was a "scandalous betrayal" of the city's transport needs.

He legislated funding to build an airport at Badgerys Creek 17 years ago when he was prime minister.

Victoria's Metropolitan Planning Strategy paper highlights worsening road congestion that hampers access to Tullamarine and Avalon for people living in the city's east and southeast as the major driver for the proposal.

Originally published as Push for second airport growing