Sydney Airport given green light for 13 extra pre-curfew flights between 5am and 6am
RESIDENTS in the flight path of Sydney Airport will cop the brunt of extra pre-curfew flights between 5am and 6am.
MORE planes are set to land at Sydney Airport between 5am and 6am, and residents in the flight path aren’t happy.
Glenn Holdstock, of Summer Hill in Sydney’s inner west, is one of many people about to cop the brunt of extra traffic in the 5-6am pre-curfew timeslot, which will increase from 21 to 24 movements a week.
Federal Transport Minister Warren Truss signed off on the extra flights with Sydney Airport last month. However Mr Truss said only 13 extra pre-curfew flights would take place between June 22 and July 20.
Mr Holdstock, a local beekeeper, said his bees should be fine with the extra planes but his other neighbours weren’t so lucky.
“The morning airport noise is already pretty regular,” he said.
“I try not to look at the clock when it’s that early, but you hear the windows rattle and just try to go back to sleep.
“Everyone’s complaining, but we’ve just given up a bit on it really.
“There just seems to be more and more of the noise.”
During Australian winter months, three international airlines are allowed to land passenger jets every day of the week between 5am and 6am.
Summer Hill state Labor MP Jo Haylen attended a Sydney Airport Community Forum in May, where it was announced that Sydney Airport would be approving the maximum allowable landings between 5am and 6am from 21 to 24 per week.
Qantas, British Airways and Singapore Airlines are allowed to land in this shoulder period because of the northern hemisphere summer and the curfews at airports including Heathrow.
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“Summer Hill residents are being unfairly subject to increasing noise due to flights outside the curfew,” Ms Haylen said. “The Minister has maxed out the shoulder period landing allowance again — given an inch, he will take a mile.
“It is clear that this Minister will always put the interests of airlines and Sydney Airport before inner west residents.”
Ms Haylen said that she sympathised with residents like Mr Holdsworth and she would ask Mr Truss to stop the increase in plane numbers.
Ms Haylen said that originally councils and residents were promised the shoulder period would be temporary, as there would be a new airport built at Badgerys Creek.
“With the western Sydney airport not operational until the mid-2020s, early morning flights will continue to wake inner west residents for years to come,” she said.
“With Badgerys Creek construction still not underway there needs to be another solution in the interim — stop approving more landings in the shoulder period.
“The inner west cannot be expected to sacrifice sleep because our Government has become too lenient on curfews which are so important to our community.”
A spokesman for Mr Truss said that there would only be 13 extra flights.
“Qantas Airways has been given approval for flights from Vancouver to make three landings per week at Sydney Airport in the curfew shoulder period at 5.45am from June 22 to July 20, 2015,” he said.
“There will be thirteen flights in total.
“The landings are permitted under Section 12 of the Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995.
“Approval has been granted as Vancouver airport is undergoing night-time runway works which require these Qantas flights to depart two hours ahead of their regular scheduled time.”
LANDING LAWS
● The Curfew Act 1995 has never applied to all aircraft, with many private and small jets allowed use the airport between 11pm and 6am.
● Passenger jets are not allowed to fly between these hours unless granted permission to land in the shoulder period of 5am to 6am.
● Starting this month, an additional three landings for Qantas per week will be allowed, taking the number of landings per week to 24.
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