Tourism boss says controversial ILS flight path marks ‘great day’ for Gold Coast
The controversial new flight path sending planes over thousands of Gold Coast homes will go live at Gold Coast Airport today, with tourism bosses calling it a ‘great day’ for the region.
Gold Coast
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THE city’s top tourism boss says a controversial new landing system going live at Gold Coast Airport today is a “great day” as it means planes will not be diverted because of bad weather.
‘The Instrument Landing System (ILS), which will put planes on a flight path over homes from Surfers Paradise to Currumbin during bad weather, caused a string of objections when first announced in 2015.’
But Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan said the option of having it for use in bad conditions was a positive.
“Most airports around the world have it and when it is inclement weather the planes will get through,” he said.
“It’s been a long time coming in terms of the build and commissioning and it means we are in step with all the other airports around the world with this important bit of equipment.
“It will inspire tourists to have confidence to get to the destination.”
The system locks on to planes and allows them to land safely in poor conditions.
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The flight path requires pilots to line up with the ILS at Surfers Paradise and track over homes during the 18km stretch to the Coolangatta runway.
The system means “significantly less” flights will be diverted to Brisbane.
Gold Coast Lifestyle Association president John Hicks said he doubted there would be any flights using the ILS given tomorrow’s forecast.
“It’s a huge positive for us that (its use) has been so restrictive, and it’s a huge positive for the community,” he said.
“We’re hoping the conditions of use are upheld by air services and that the weather conditions turn out to be such a small percentage of events during the year that the use of the ILS is very light,” he said.
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