Labor has promised to ban night flights over homes near Badgerys Creek airport in a move to capture what will be a key battleground in the upcoming election.

However, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's policy also means bipartisan support for a 24-hour airport at Badgerys Creek is locked in, provided – in Labor's case – there is a "no-fly zone" over homes in western Sydney at night.

Labor has promised a "no-fly zone" from 11pm to 6am at Badgerys Creek. Photo: Supplied

Under Labor's plan, planes would be forced to take off and land in one direction over undeveloped areas to the south-west of the airport from 11pm to 6am.

Advertisement

Mr Shorten said the move would get the "balance right" by allowing the airport to operate without a curfew while mitigating the impact of noise on residents.

Opposition transport and infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese said aircraft would be directed "over essentially forest, rather than over people".

A map released by the federal government last year showing the noise contours from a Badgerys Creek airport. Photo: Department of Transport and Infrastructure

"There isn't a great demand to fly from Sydney to Melbourne at 3am," Mr Albanese said.

"What there is, though, is the economic benefit that will come from the odd flight from the Middle East or from Asia because of time zones, that will ensure that those flights can get into Sydney, but in a manner that has no noise impact whatsoever on people."

When asked which experts had been consulted about the move, Mr Albanese said there had been "30 years of analysis that backs up the fact that this is possible".

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

Western Sydney will be one of the main battlegrounds in the upcoming federal election. Several marginal seats, including Lindsay, Macarthur, Parramatta and Greenway, are in the region.

The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils said a south-west flight path would avoid the most densely populated areas near the airport.

However, such a path could, potentially, impact on other communities, as well as the Blue Mountains world heritage area and the Warragamba catchment.

"We still do not know definitive flight paths and airport operating parameters that would give us any idea as to the scale, intensity and nature of the noise burden on local communities," president Tony Hadchiti said.

The Sydney Business Chamber's western Sydney director, David Borger, welcomed Labor's confirmation it would support a 24-hour airport.

"If this announcement means that there won't be a curfew or limitation on the number of flights, that's a really good thing for the airport, and if the operating conditions can minimise noise impacts, then that's a win-win," Mr Borger said.

However, Major Projects Minister Paul Fletcher slammed Labor's announcement as "hastily cobbled together".

The minister said the night "no-fly zone" proposal was one option under consideration by the federal government.

It is preparing a final environmental impact statement for the airport.

"We need to work through this option and every other option in a thorough, careful and considered fashion, rather than making policy on the run," Mr Fletcher said.

"Mr Shorten and Mr Albanese have rushed something out. It hasn't been carefully thought through. It's far from clear how it would work. It's far from clear that they know how it would work."

A draft environment impact statement for the airport, which is set to open in 2025, found that households in western Sydney would be exposed to noise no louder than a car travelling in a suburban street.

A final environmental impact statement is due this year.