Melbourne Airport runway plan takes off

The $1.9 billion project is expected to increase the airport's capacity by about 40 per cent, with around 136,500 more take-offs and landings each year.

Planning maps show noise from the extra flights will be heard in Melbourne's north and west, and the airport has developed an online tool that will calculate the impact on residents at different times of day.

Melbourne Airport chief executive Lyell Strambi told reporters on Monday some suburbs may experience less noise.

"There is no doubt that additional activity does bring more noise to the surroundings, but it really depends on where you live," he said.

Not every one is happy with the news, including concerned resident Hannah Robertson, who said it was not fair or justifiable to put the burden of a new runway on nearby communities.

"We bear those costs in terms of loss of amenity, loss of health and education... and the costs of insulating our homes and losing the pleasure of our outdoor spaces," Ms Robertson said.

"Unfortunately no-one has undertaken any longitudinal health or educational studies of communities in Australia that are affected by aircraft noise so we don't really have an adequate measure, we'd certainly like to see that those studies be done.

"Aircraft noise exposure has been linked to diabetes and heart disease and educational delays and we need to see a plan that addresses those."

She suggested another airport in regional Victoria would be a better option to manage increased passenger numbers.

Melbourne Airport says the extra runway will make it easier for flights to depart and arrive on time, and prevent shutdowns in high winds.

It's also expected to attract new international airlines to Tullamarine, which will lead to more direct flights to international cities.

Passenger numbers at Tullamarine reached 37 million in 2019, and are forecast to reach 83 million by 2046.

There are still fewer flights than usual due to COVID-19, with activity on the weekend at half the usual levels.

"I think COVID has been obviously a huge impact on the travel industry here and abroad and we are still in the throes of recovering from it," Mr Strambi said.

But he said the existing two runways were nearing capacity before the pandemic, with their cross-shaped runway configuration causing congestion and delays at peak times.

The ultimate scheme for the airport, conceived in its initial planning 60 years ago, is to build four runways in a hashtag configuration.

It's estimated the new runway will create 37,000 jobs for the state and add $4.6 billion to the GDP by 2046.

During construction, it will create jobs for about 650 people over the four- to five-year build.

Building work could start as early as 2023 with planes taking off from the runway in 2027 at the earliest.

The runway plans are yet to be approved by the federal government.