Flight path fears of extra 50 flights a day over Logan by 2035 raised at community drop-in

Southside suburbs are gearing up for a shake-up of flight paths into Brisbane after residents were told to expect up to a 30 per cent increase in traffic at Brisbane airport – taking the total to 900 flights a day – over the next decade.

The green line is the option that will take flights across Logan suburbs with the red line the current path. Picture: Airservices Australia

Southside suburbs are gearing up for a shake-up of flight paths into Brisbane after residents were told to expect a 30 per cent increase in the number of planes over the next decade.

Residents of Logan suburbs bordered by the Pacific Mwy were told to expect an extra 50 flights a day by 2035 when the Brisbane Airport will experience a 30 per cent increase in daily flights.

That equates to about 850 a day by the Olympics at the airport and about 900 a day at the airport by 2035.

There are a maximum of 150 flights a day over Shailer Park and Logan currently, with that expected to rise by 50 flights by 2035.

Those figures were still under the 110 maximum flights an hour announced by the Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC).

The statistics were revealed at an information drop-in session organised by Airservices Australia (ASA) at Fitzy’s Hotel yesterday (Tuesday, May 9) to explain the changes.

The 70 southsiders at the session were also told a 10pm to 6am curfew was unlikely and flight paths over suburbs such as Shailer Park were only an option.

About 70 Logan residents attended a drop-in information session in Logan on Tuesday. Picture: Contributed.

An ASA spokesman said proposed options for flight paths over southside suburbs would not change where aircraft flew over Shailer Park or Logan.

“This is a new flight path option only,” the spokesperson said.

“Aircraft would travel at higher altitude under this option, reducing aircraft noise.

“These options are being presented to the community following complaints from residents about aircraft noise related to flight paths for Brisbane Airport’s second runway.”

Yesterday’s Logan drop-in session was one of 13 being held to discuss the new flight path plans and was part of Airservices Australia’s new strategy for engaging communities before any changes.

Airport review shows no cuts to flights as noise sharing plan raises anger

Daisy Hill resident Rachael Mitchell said residents were told that options to push all flights out over the ocean would be weighed up with costs, while a 10pm to 6am curfew was a federal issue.

She said Shailer Park and southside suburbs were “targets” because of the large amount of green space and highway traffic noise.

She urged all residents to lodge concerns now, rather than to wait until the summer months when it might be too late.

“We need to protect our area, as we don’t know how air taxis and drones are going to interact in the near future.

“Unfortunately, the meeting was drop-in style and they hand out brochures and expect those who attend to ask all the questions.”

Brochures were available for those who attended. Picture: Supplied

Those who attended were shown the first set of flight path options developed, which were designed to maximise flights over Moreton Bay and the ocean.

Many Logan and Redland residents have already joined forces with Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance to protest the proposed flight path changes and plans for a rally on June 10.

ASA said it had noted concerns from the Redlands community about the potential for increased operations over bayside communities.

It said flights to and from Brisbane to destinations south of Brisbane generally flew over Redland city when “over the water” departure modes were used.

At other times, aircraft would fly over Tingalpa and Logan, generally above 3000m (10,000ft).

Redland secured three air noise monitors to measure the impact of increased flights affecting the bayside city.

One has been installed in Thornlands, with two at Wellington Point.

The Logan suburb of Shailer Park, outlined in red, is expected to get 15 more flights a day within the next year. Picture: Google maps

In January, more than 1400 Redland residents signed a petition protesting increases in local aircraft noise following changed flight paths.

Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance, a group calling for a net reduction of flights over suburbia, said all suburbs would lose under the ASA strategy to “share the noise”.

Alliance chair Marcus Foth, a Professor of Urban Informatics at QUT, said the proposal was not a real solution and would just spread the pain to people currently not affected by the problem.

He said ASA had not made any compromises.

“By being allowed to spread the noise and affect even more people, BAC and Airservices will continue to turn the once liveable city of Brisbane into their aerotropolis vision – an airport dominated city – where 110 flights per hour will overfly hundreds of suburbs at low altitudes,” Dr Foth said.

“We are very concerned that any small relief will be soon overtaken by the expansionist growth plans of Brisbane Airport Corporation aiming to increase demand to fully use their entirely unrestricted capacity of 110 flights an hour.”