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The outcome of a long and heated investigation into flight paths over Brisbane and the surrounding area has been revealed, with four key changes to reduce noise pollution for nearly 140,000 residents.
Airservices Australia, the federal government-owned organisation in charge of the nation’s airspace, released its final determination on Thursday, which will shift arrival paths further north to avoid about 59,000 people.
On the southern end, flight departures will be shifted further east, which will reduce the number of residents impacted by overhead noise by about 44,500.
New aviation rules that allow planes to land side-by-side on two runways at the same time, known as Independent Parallel Runway Operations (IPRO), will also reduce noise pollution for about 35,000 residents, according to Airservices Australia.
The new flight paths were implemented on Thursday, while the side-by-side landing will not be used regularly until late 2027.
Airservices Australia’s head of community engagement, Donna Marshall, said the four changes add to previously announced amendments, such as increasing flights over water as well as the height of flight paths over residential areas.
“We considered a range of factors in making these flight-path decisions including population, noise levels, frequency of overflight, cumulative impact, track miles and emissions and aircraft altitude,” she said.
“We have heard from the community many times that we need to reduce the impact of aircraft operations on communities, in keeping with our legislated obligations, and making decisions which reduce the number of people overflown is a key way to achieve this.”
Debate over flight paths and curfews has raged in Brisbane for years and been seized on by political leaders, including former federal Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather, who campaigned aggressively on the issue when he unseated high-profile Labor MP Terri Butler in the inner-south seat of Griffith in 2022.
Brisbane Airport head of airspace Tim Boyle said the changes will both reduce noise pollution and improve flight services.
“The changes will mean flights operate over fewer people, which is an important consideration for our community,” he said in a statement provided to this masthead.
“They will also help reduce waiting times in the sky during peak periods, improving the travel experience for passengers.
“As Brisbane continues to grow, our focus remains on a balanced approach that delivers the connectivity and economic benefits the region relies on while minimising impacts on nearby communities.”
Four changes
- Arrival flight paths to the northern end of the new runway (over water) will be shifted further north to reduce the population overflown by about 59,000 residents, including in the southern part of Bribie Island.
- New short-approach connections (where aircraft turn to line up with the runway when closer to the airport) to the northern end of the new runway have been created for non-jet aircraft, to provide greater opportunity to share noise between long and short-approach flight paths, and to reduce the impact of visual arrivals over Redcliffe.
- Arrivals flight paths to the southern end of both runways will be changed to address new aviation rules which enable Independent Parallel Runway Operations (IPRO) – where planes can arrive side-by-side to both runways at the same time – and to reduce the total population overflown by about 35,000. While IPRO is not expected to be regularly used until late 2027, the new flight paths commenced operation on July 9 to achieve noise improvement benefits quickly.
- Departure flight paths from the legacy runway to the south-east will be shifted further east to reduce the population overflown by about 44,500 residents. Minor adjustments will be considered in the final design to address concerns raised by Southern Moreton Bay Island communities during engagement.
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James Hall is the News Director at the Brisbane Times. He is the former Queensland correspondent at The Australian Financial Review and has reported for a range of mastheads across the country, specialising on political and finance reporting.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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