Making a complaint

Noise Complaints and Information Service (NCIS)

Airservices Australia seeks to minimise the impact of aircraft operations on communities where safe and compliant with aviation rules. We recognise that aircraft noise can be disturbing for some people and regularly review aircraft noise complaints and the outcome of flight path and airspace changes to identify possible improvements.

Our Noise Complaints and Information Service (NCIS) is available to answer your questions about aircraft operations and to record complaints about aircraft noise. While we are not able to immediately stop an operation that may be of concern, we can investigate it, explain why it happened and tell you if there is an opportunity to consider an improvement. Where a potential improvement opportunity is identified, we can progress this for further investigation.

When you contact us, please provide your contact details including email address so we can send you a written response and any updates relevant to your location. Provide as much information about your complaint or enquiry as possible, including your suburb so we can identify the operation your enquiry is about.

We ask that you treat our people with respect.

If you feel negatively impacted by aircraft noise, you could consider reaching out to one of the following support services:

Lifeline 24 hr Counselling Service: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636

Airservices Australia has extended our internal counselling program to any community member who is feeling negatively affected by aircraft noise. This is a confidential service, free of charge to community members, and is provided completely independent of Airservices Australia. All personal details will be kept confidential. More information is available here. If requested, please use “organisation code” AIRSUPPORT and if asked for a “division” please use Community Support.

Upcoming
Temporary changes in operations

Adelaide SA August to November 2025

Commencing in August 2025, two aircraft have been conducting drops of sterile fruit flies over Adelaide city and surrounding areas each Saturday morning. The aircraft operate at low-levels with one aircraft operating between 500-600ft above ground level while the second aircraft will operate at 1000-1100ft above ground level. These operations are due to finish by 8 November 2025 however operations may continue until early 2026 over locations further afield.
Further information can be found at https://fruitfly.sa.gov.au/prevent-fruit-fly/pirsa-preventing-fruit-fly/sterile_insect_technique?shorturl_sit

Adelaide Airport SA 26 to 27 October 2025

Due to required works at the airport the main runway, Runway 05/23, will be closed from 11pm on Sunday 26 October until 5am on Monday 27 October. All aircraft will operate on Runway 12/30 during this time.

Melbourne Airport VIC 21 to 29 October 2025

Due to required works at the airport each runway will be closed as shown below:
• the north/south runway (Runway 16/34) will be closed between 1:30am and 5:15am on Monday 27 October.
• the east/west runway (Runway 09/27) will be closed on Wednesday 22 October between 10am and 4pm
• the east/west runway (Runway 09/27) will be closed on Wednesday 29 October between 10am and 4pm.
Aircraft will operate on the alternate runway during these times.

Perth Airport WA October & November 2025

Perth Airport has scheduled closures of each runway at Perth Airport for works and maintenance activities during October and November 2025. Dates and times of the closures for each runway can be found on the Perth Airport website at: https://www.perthairport.com.au/Home/corporate/planning-and-projects/runway-works
Aircraft will operate on the alternate runway during these closures.

Sydney Airport NSW Curfew Operations 1 October to 31 December 2025

Due to required works at the airport the longer north/south runway, Runway 16 Right / 34 Left, will be closed during the curfew period for up to 12 nights between 1 October and 31 December 2025. Closures will occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.
Aircraft will be permitted to depart off Runway 16 Left and land on Runway 34 Right during these times.

Western Sydney International Airport NSW 23 & 24 October 2025

Residents of Western Sydney may observe a twin-engine aircraft flying a very low and unusual flight pattern over the Western Sydney area on Thursday 23 October and Friday 24 October 2025.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is conducting validation flights on Thursday 23 October and Friday 24 October over and around the new Western Sydney International (WSI) Airport. These validation flights are conducted as part of the Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) process and aim to confirm that procedures for the WSI Airport can be safely flown and that the airspace is clear of obstructions. The validation flights include the assessment of existing obstacles in the vicinity of the airport, such as mobile towers and will result in some very low operations.
The flights will also occur around RAAF Richmond, Bankstown Airport, and Westmead Hospital. These flights are to validate amended procedures at these locations, which are a result of the new WSI Airport flight paths.

Western Sydney International Airport NSW 28 & 29 October 2025

The new Western Sydney International (WSI) Airport operator, in partnership with the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS), will conduct an emergency exercise at WSI Airport on Tuesday 28 October and Wednesday 29 October 2025.
On Tuesday 28 October, RFS will operate a Boeing 737 aircraft, flying from RAAF Richmond to WSI Airport. The aircraft is scheduled to:
• arrive at WSI Airport between 8:00am and 9:30am, and
• depart WSI Airport between 2:00pm and 3:30pm
During these times you may notice the aircraft flying at a low altitude between RAAF Richmond and WSI Airport. It will be operating outside controlled airspace, below 5,000 feet. Please note that the aircraft will not fly any of the proposed WSI Airport flight paths, as these are still pending validation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). To ensure safe operations while this aircraft is in the air, the airspace above WSI Airport will be temporarily closed to other aircraft during the above times.
If you wish to find out more about the emergency exercise, please contact the team at Western Sydney International Airport directly on 1800 972 972 or info@wsiairport.com.au

Community tools

View WebTrak

Learn about aircraft in your neighbourhood

Learn about aircraft operations

How to contact us

Online

Submit complaint here

Submit complaint through WebTrak

By phone

1800 802 584 (freecall)

10am - 4pm (Sydney time)

Mon - Fri (excluding public holidays)

By post

Noise Complaints and Information Service

PO Box 211

Mascot NSW 1460

Do you need assistance?

Interpreter assistance

If you need assistance, please contact the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450.

TIS is a free service that provides access to a telephone interpreter in many different languages.

Other complaints

NCIS is the Australian aviation industry’s main interface on civil aircraft noise and related issues for the community.

If you have an enquiry or complaint about military aircraft visit the Department of Defence website.

If you have a complaint that does not relate to aircraft noise, visit the Australian Government’s Aviation Complaints website to find the right place to direct your complaint.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens after I submit my complaint?

We endeavour to respond to all complaints and enquiries as quickly as possible. We aim to stay within 21 days, but this can increase during periods of high complaint volume. More complex complaints and enquiries may take longer than 21 days to investigate and respond, particularly where contact with third parties is required.

We prefer to respond to all complaints and enquiries in writing wherever possible. This is because we are able to provide images to support our response and links to other information that may be useful. If you contact us by phone, we will discuss the issue with you but will still respond in writing after investigating the issue further. If you have further questions after reading our response, you can contact us again.

If the complaint or enquiry does not provide sufficient detail (for example, it does not state the location of the operation being questioned), we may contact you to request further information or respond with general information only.

Enquiries or feedback on an open engagement activity will be forwarded to Airservices’ Community Engagement unit for consideration and action as appropriate. We will provide an acknowledgement email but no formal response to the contact.

How often do I need to contact you?

You only need to contact us once to have your complaint seriously considered.

If your contact raises an issue that you already have with us for response, you may be informed that a response is being prepared and that further contact on this matter is not required to progress the response. While you may wish to continue to raise the issue as a complaint, a single response will be provided referencing the various contacts made.

If further contact is made about the same issue after a response has been provided, and if there is no further information we are able to share, you will be advised of this and informed that a response to future contacts about this same issue may not be provided.

We welcome contact from all community members and repeat contacts on the same issue will be recorded.

Do you investigate my issue?

We investigate all new complaints and enquiries. Where possible, we provide you with a detailed response explaining the aircraft operations, key factors relating to this and if there is any opportunity for investigation of improvements, including current reviews or engagement activity.

If a potential opportunity for a noise improvement is found during the investigation, we will progress it for a further action within the relevant area of Airservices Australia or with the relevant external party (airport or aircraft operator, for example).

When investigating potential noise improvement opportunities, consideration will be given to:

safety
other complaints about the operation
whether a better noise outcome can be achieved overall.

Proposals that compromise safety are not able to be progressed.

Moving noise from one part of the community to another generally will not be considered a better noise outcome overall.

Do you report on complaints?

Regular complaints reporting is undertaken to monitor trends and identify emerging complaint hotspots and issues, to determine if there is any action that can be taken. This includes review of:

the number of complainants and contacts per airport
the number of complainants per suburb
the issues raised by complainants.

Complaint reports are available through our Aircraft In Your Neighbourhood page. We also produce quarterly complaint reports to Community Aviation Consultation Groups (CACGs).

Aircraft Noise Ombudsman

The Aircraft Noise Ombudsman conducts independent reviews of Airservices' management of aircraft noise-related activities, including the handling of complaints or enquiries made to Airservices about aircraft noise, community engagement processes related to aircraft noise, and the presentation and distribution of aircraft noise-related information.

If you are dissatisfied with the way your complaint has been handled you may request a review by the Aircraft Noise Ombudsman.

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