Prime Minister Tony Abbott moves second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek one step closer to reality Prime Minister Tony Abbott is backing a Badgerys Creek airport. BADGERYS Creek is finally poised for in-principle go-ahead as Sydney's second airport, after Prime Minister Tony Abbott ruled out Richmond RAAF base as an interim option. Senior government sources confirmed Mr Abbott and Treasurer Joe Hockey had officially killed off the stop-gap option of using Richmond to ease congestion at Mascot - paving the way for approval of Badgerys Creek after 30 years of indecision. Qantas and Jetstar confirm they would use a western Sydney airport Badgerys Creek could even be raised at a cabinet level for the first time today, with an "in-principle" decision likely within weeks, the sources said. It is almost certain to receive bipartisan support from the Opposition, after Labor under Julia Gillard had secretly signed off on a policy to build a second airport - either at Badgerys Creek or Wilton. The previously unknown approval, sponsored by then infrastructure minister Anthony Albanese, followed a 2012 report that not only also ruled out Richmond, but found Badgerys Creek could be built for as little as $2.4 billion, almost $1 billion less than the Wilton option. Badgerys Creek airport back on agenda in next federal budget The Daily Telegraph can reveal Mr Abbott's cabinet will today sign off on the Coalition's promised $11 billion infrastructure investment program for roads, which will include $1.5 billion for Sydney's missing link motorway project Westconnex. Sydney airport is looking more and more certain of an airport at Badgerys Creek. And it will discuss an aggressive new timetable for its roll-out, which also includes $5.6 billion for the Pacific Highway from Newcastle to the Queensland border. And several senior government sources confirmed that, while it is not listed for formal consideration yet, the Badgerys Creek proposal is tipped to be raised. Key Barry O'Farrell planner Graham Bradley coy on Badgerys Creek The option of using the RAAF base at Richmond as an interim over-flow option for an increasingly congested Mascot - which would have delayed the need for a second airport at Badgerys Creek - was officially ruled out by Mr Abbott and Mr Hockey last week. "It's now a case of not if but when," a senior government source said. Mr Hockey has made no secret of his intentions to push ahead with Badgerys Creek as a key plank of his agenda to use infrastructure to boost the productive side of the national economy. Locals want a second airport at Badgerys Creek He has privately told colleagues that he wants to include start-up funding for the project in his first budget. Since then, both Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss and his assistant minister Jamie Briggs have confirmed that an in-principle decision on Badgerys Creek would be made before Christmas.