Making some noise: Primrose Sands resident makes 1475 flight complaints about Hobart flights

A single resident of Primrose Sands is responsible for 94 per cent of the complaints about aircraft noise from Hobart Airport.

A Qantas plane takes off from Hobart Airport

A single resident of Primrose Sands is responsible for 94 per cent of the complaints about aircraft noise from Hobart Airport.

The unidentified person made 1475 complaints to Airservices Australia in 2023/24 – an average of four per day.

All up there were 1553 complaints about Hobart aircraft movements, from 31 people.

The next-highest number of complaints came from a Carlton resident who lodged 16 complaints.

Just five people nationwide are responsible for more than 30,000 of the 51,000 complaints about aircraft noise each year.

They include a Perth, Western Australia, man who filed 21,716 complaints – an average of 60 a day – or about one for every seventh plane leaving the busy airport.

An Airservices Australian spokesman said the organisation was always keen to take on board people’s views.

“Airservices has conducted significant engagement with the Hobart community on changes to flight paths which were implemented in 2019, including on measures to reduce and share the impact of aircraft noise,” he said.

Map showing the flight path options for Hobart flights

“Our Post Implementation Review completed in April 2022 identified several suggested improvements from the community and industry and builds on the extensive engagement completed for the airspace design review which commenced in 2018. We are currently trialling a Noise Abatement Procedure (NAP) for arrivals to Runway 30 which aims to better share noise from aircraft arrivals.

“The trial commenced on 13 June 2024 and will be in effect for six months after which we will complete an assessment to determine if the NAP will be permanently implemented following the trial.

“Airservices will be holding in-person consultation sessions in early September to engage on the other recommended actions from the PIR as well as improvements identified by our regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.”

A Hobart airport spokeswoman said Airservices Australia was responsible for airspace design and management including the flight paths in and out of Hobart Airport.

“Hobart Airport continues to advocate for improved community engagement about aircraft movements and noise,” she said.

“Noise reduction continues to be a feature of the next generation aircraft that many airlines are now investing in, and that’s good news for everyone.

“Most recently, we were thrilled to welcome the new Qantas Link A220 aircraft to Hobart, which has a 50 per cent noise footprint reduction compared with previous generations of aircraft.”