How the proposed flight path changes will affect your suburb
Airservices Australia has released a proposal for changes to flight paths to and from Brisbane Airport to reduce the impacts of aircraft noise on Brisbane’s suburbs.
The flight path options, which are open for community feedback until August 17, include distributing flights more evenly over a wider area and reducing the concentration of flights over suburbs already being flooded with both arrival and departure, and day and night flights.
The Noise Action Plan for Brisbane was developed to address complaints following the introduction of Brisbane Airport’s parallel runway in July 2020.
The latest plan to reduce plane noise over Brisbane includes distributing flights more evenly over a wider area.
But the Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance has criticised the latest proposal, warning it would result in more communities being exposed to aircraft noise, many for the first time.
Alliance spokesperson Marcus Foth said the proposal did not offer a real solution, with “no night-time curfew, no flight cap, and no credible plan for genuine net noise reductions”.
Here is what the proposed flight path changes would mean for your area:
North and west
The Noise Action Plan’s proposed departures (top) and arrivals (bottom) for suburbs to Brisbane’s north and west.Credit: Airservices Australia
With both arrivals and departures tracking over similar areas, there are many communities to the north-west of the Brisbane Airport that do not experience periods of respite, even when wind conditions change.
The Airservices Australia proposal includes spreading flight paths, both arrivals and departures, over a wider area, and increasing the altitude at which planes would fly.
South and east
There are fewer destinations south of Brisbane, but many more planes travel between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
The Noise Action Plan’s proposed departures (top) and arrivals (bottom) for suburbs to Brisbane’s south and east.Credit: Airservices Australia
As a result, there are not as many flight paths, but some southern suburbs experience a high frequency of planes overhead. Some of these are also used by arrivals from the south and east.
Options proposed include shifting departures that track to the east and south-east away from the main southern departure path as early as is safely possible, and shifting arrival paths further east.
Changes to support independent parallel runway operations
This is a mode of operations where each runway operates independently, so arrivals and departures to one runway are not affected by or dependent on arrivals to the other.
Proposals for arrivals over land (top) and over water (bottom) that Airservices Australia says will support independent parallel runway operations.Credit: Airservices Australia
Airservices said it was required to provide this mode of operation, which allows for more aircraft movements an hour. It would be used during busy traffic periods during daytime hours.
The proposed changes would also increase the altitude of arrival paths, where possible, it said.
New option for night operations (10pm to 6am)
Since the runway opened in 2020, there has been a noise abatement procedure (NAP) in place that generally stops aircraft flying over land to and from the runway at night.
However, the NAP allows for the use of this runway at night when the legacy runway is closed for essential maintenance and in emergencies.
In looking for options to reduce plane noise at night over people’s homes, Airservices Australia identified a possible option to use the newer runway for over-land departures when the wind is blowing from the south and when simultaneous opposite direction parallel runway operations (SODPROPS) cannot be used.
Planes would make a tight left turn immediately after take-off to fly over the airport and industrial land, before continuing towards Moreton Bay to complete their climb over water, which would reduce noise at night when the legacy runway is closed for maintenance.
Simulator testing has confirmed aircraft can remain clear of residential areas using this departure path. It is proposed this option would be trialled when Brisbane Airport does runway works in mid-2026.
The new option for night operations would change all departure paths used by jet aircraft between 10pm to 6am when winds are blowing from the south.Credit: Airservices Australia
Airservices Australia head of community engagement Donna Marshall said the government-owned organisation wanted to speak to as many people about the flight path options.
“Community feedback has already helped shape a number of preferred options,” she said.
“We are listening to residents who’ve consistently called for fairer distribution of aircraft noise, and we’re dedicated to incorporating community feedback into our final planning.”
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