Airservices Australia on Monday (9 November) released five options for using Brisbane's airspace differently to manage aircraft noise, which it says would deliver periods of respite to 482,000 residents, while 139,000 would have aircraft noise reduced over their homes through improved arrival profiles that reduce the need for level flight. The Airservices release says many more would also benefit from increased flightpath altitudes. The options are proposals only: Airservices says it has not yet made any decisions on whether they will progress to implementation, and community feedback will be considered alongside technical, safety, operational and environmental assessments.
The options form Package 4, the final package of work through the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane, and follow a detailed review by air traffic management consultants Trax International. Brisbane Times reported Trax assessed 17 concepts aimed at reducing the impact of aircraft noise on surrounding communities.
Respite Options
The Airservices engagement page lists two respite options and changes to three arrival paths. Under the first respite option, Brisbane Times reported, on days when winds came from the north, planes would be directed to just one runway for arrivals, giving those under the other runway's flightpaths respite; Airservices estimated it could be used on about 100 weekdays a year when traffic and weather conditions allowed. A second proposal would extend those respite periods by allowing more departing aircraft to use over-water runway ends.
"New runway aligned communities, who are subject to both arrival and departure operations, could receive respite from arrivals in between peak traffic periods on an alternating basis with legacy runway communities," said Donna Marshall, Airservices Australia's head of Noise Action Plan for Brisbane program delivery.
The remaining options would keep aircraft higher for longer. The release says one would remove daytime altitude restrictions on night-time flightpaths, including removing level flight operations over around 71,000 residents, and another would increase aircraft altitude permanently on flightpaths from the north and west to the southern runway ends, including removing level flight operations over around 68,000 residents. Brisbane Times reported one night option for arrivals from the south and east would benefit about 50,000 residents.
"Communities to the north and west of the airport, who are overflown by aircraft arriving to the new runway, could also experience lower noise levels from the increased flightpath altitudes and smoother descent profiles. Some of these communities could also benefit from respite options," Ms Marshall said. "The options we are presenting provide a real opportunity for noise improvements for some of the communities we have most frequently engaged with throughout the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane."
Concepts Not Progressed
Brisbane Times reported the Trax report identified seven concepts as viable for further consideration, and Airservices narrowed that list to five. One of the two left out, known as Concept 10, would have alternated all four of Brisbane Airport's segregated runway modes; Airservices rejected it after concluding the new departure routes required would newly affect about 136,000 residents, including people in Coorparoo, Holland Park, Salisbury, Macgregor, Parkinson, Browns Plains, Regents Park and Boronia Heights. A proposal to divert some non-jet aircraft onto a new approach path from the north was rejected after Airservices found it would affect about 70,000 residents while delivering benefits for only a handful of flights.
Trax found there was "little uncommitted airspace" in south-east Queensland, with Brisbane operations constrained by Defence airspace around Amberley and offshore training areas, airports at the Gold and Sunshine coasts and general aviation operations at Archerfield, Brisbane Times reported.
"Brisbane Airport supports the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane and the work underway by Airservices Australia to identify ways to reduce aircraft noise impacts," an airport spokesperson told Australian Aviation.
Have Your Say
Feedback on the options is open until midnight on Sunday (13 December) through an online survey, by email or by letter, and Airservices is holding drop-in engagement sessions and online Q&As. The options have been added to the Brisbane Baseline Model, which includes an address search function so residents can see the suburbs relevant to each option. Airservices notes its Noise Complaints and Information Service cannot record feedback on these options.