Flight path residents win a victory as three carriers change tune over night time noise
Brisbane residents under the flight path have won a significant reprieve with three major airlines now considering over-water departures for night time noise reduction reasons.
Brisbane Airport has told residents of major noise changes (file photo)
The decision by Singapore, Emirates and Cathay Pacific is a significant victory for residents who have campaigned for changes for several years and have won the political support of the Greens in their battle. The aircraft noise was considered to be one of several reasons Labor lost the seat of Griffith at the last election to the Greens’ Max Chandler-Mather
Brisbane Airport chief executive Gert-Jan de Graaf wrote to residents last week notifying them of the change.
“This will mean there is a higher probability of achieving more departures and arrivals over the water, weather permitting,” de Graaf said.
“Pilots calculate their takeoff performance for both runway directions and if they consider it safe and within operational capability of the aircraft, they can request a runway change from air traffic control.
“These airlines believe they can modify their operations in certain circumstances that will enable fewer flights over the populated areas of the city without any reduction in safety.”
de Graaf said that 51 per cent of arrivals and departures were over the bay. He said Airservices had also facilitated an official Notice to Airmen to update its operations recognising that Brisbane’s new runway is not to be used for flights over the city from 10pm to 6am, unless there were exceptional circumstances such as an emergency, the loss of infrastructure such as the closure of the Legacy Runway or extreme weather conditions.
He said China Southern Airlines, which had recently announced it was resuming flights to Brisbane, had new A350 aircraft which were up to 50 per cent quieter than its previous fleet. Jetstar was also adopting quieter aircraft.
He said Airservices Australia was also considering another application to achieve a 7-knot tailwind allowance, an increase from the current 5-knot allowance. For three decades it had been 10 knots but this was changed in 2016.
“By increasing the tailwind allowance, Airservices believes that a material increase in the number of arrivals and departures over water will be achievable, particularly during the sensitive night-time hours,” de Graaf said.
