Sydney If you want to bamboozle a Sydney politician, ask him or her about transport infrastructure. The stare is likely to be as impenetrable as that of an Easter Island statue. After all, this is a city with a monorail that runs in a circle, a light rail that goes nowhere and more tunnels than the Colditz escape committee. Sydney's perennial transport nightmare, however, is its international airport, a former sheep paddock overlooking the oil storage tanks of Botany Bay. Plans to replace the old aerodrome have been under discussion since 1946, when aviation experts predicted that the facility was approaching its use-by date. Apart from its space limitations, drab buildings and glacial baggage-handling system, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith airport is located just 10km from downtown Sydney - convenient for passengers, but with a huge noise footprint for those living under the flight path. Aircraft noise had dogged successive federal and state governments. Local residents reacted angrily to the construction of a third, or parallel, runway in the early 1990s and picketed the airport. There were similar concerns when the facility was privatised in 2002. Plans to build a new airport at Badgerys Creek, to the city's west, were drawn up but quickly abandoned; the proposed site still awaits a final decision. And there, it seemed, the debate was destined to rest. Until Qantas and Singapore Airlines this week began lobbying Canberra to relax the nighttime curfew on aircraft movements in and out of Kingsford Smith. The airlines say that with the daytime cap of 80 flights an hour reached, there is now no option but to abandon the 11pm to 6am curfew. Both airlines argue that the restrictions should be relaxed to accommodate a new generation of quieter aircraft, such as the Boeing 787s and the Airbus A380. But local residents say the curfew is sacrosanct. 'Qantas' push for a relaxed curfew is simply a grab for more profits,' said Dulwich Hill resident Steve Goldberg. 'And, no, the new jets aren't quieter, as evidenced by the ease with which I can pick the thundering of Singapore Airlines' new A380, which takes off over my suburb.' Community leaders are equally furious. 'All other businesses have approved hours of operation,' said Dimitrios Thanos, mayor of Marrickville. 'Why shouldn't the airport?' Marrickville is one of the worst-affected suburbs, alongside Sydenham, Hunters Hill, Stanmore and Leichhardt. The new Labor transport minister, Anthony Albanese - whose electorate includes Marrickville - has rejected the idea of changing the curfew. Apart from the inconvenience caused by aircraft noise, many residents are concerned about its impact on their health. A report by University of New South Wales found that people living under the flight path suffer from a range of acute health problems, including chronic noise stress, noise sensitivity and hypertension. The report claims the health implications for people living near the airport are far more serious than previously thought. 'Everybody has noise and noise annoyance,' said Deborah Black, the associate professor who led the research. 'But aircraft noise is different to traffic noise because you don't know when it's coming. And the decibels are just so much higher.' The report is scathing about past attempts to ameliorate aircraft noise by insulating houses and installing double-glazing on windows. As Dr Black points out, most modern cities have already relocated their main airport outside the metropolis. After six decades of buck passing, the long-suffering residents of Sydney may finally see their dream of a modern, state-of-the-art international airport realised. Mr Albanese is a keen supporter of a second airport, but the big question remains where? Four possible locations are being mooted: Newcastle, to the north; Badgerys Creek, to the west; Richmond, on the city's outer perimeter; and Goulburn, in rural New South Wales. A final decision could be made later this year, but no one in Sydney is holding their breath - just their eardrums.