Today, Airservices Australia has released the final outcomes for Package 3 of the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane. It details a series of flightpath and operational changes developed following extensive consultation with community and industry throughout July and August 2025.
Four major Brisbane flightpath changes will progress to implementation:
- Arrival flightpaths to the northern end of the new runway (over water) will be shifted further north to reduce the population overflown by approximately 59,000 residents, including in the southern part of Bribie Island.
- New short-approach connections (where aircraft turn to line up with the runway when closer to the airport) to the northern end of the new runway have also been created for non-jet aircraft, to provide greater opportunity to share noise between long and short-approach flightpaths, and to reduce the impact of visual arrivals over Redcliffe.
- Arrivals flightpaths to the southern end of both runways will be changed to address new aviation rules which enable Independent Parallel Runway Operations (IPRO) – where planes can arrive side-by-side to both runways at the same time – and to reduce the total population overflown by approximately 35,000. While IPRO is not expected to be regularly used until late 2027, the new flightpaths will commence operation on 9 July 2026 to achieve noise improvement benefits quickly.
- Departure flightpaths from the legacy runway to the south-east will be shifted further east to reduce the population overflown by approximately 44,500 residents. Minor adjustments will be considered in the final design to address concerns raised by Southern Moreton Bay Island communities during engagement.
- Safety work is being progressed on the proposed night-time, over-airport departure from the new runway ahead of confirming if this can proceed to trial. This safety work is focused on ensuring aircraft can safely cross in front of the legacy runway to turn out across the bay.
These changes build upon 12 decisions already announced and implemented within Package 3, including three major flightpath and operational changes to both increase flights over water and increase the altitude of flights over some impacted communities.
Airservices has committed to noise mitigation measures where practicable, given the complexity of flightpath decision-making.
“We considered a range of factors in making these flightpath decisions including population, noise levels, frequency of overflight, cumulative impact, track miles and emissions and aircraft altitude,” said Donna Marshall, Airservices Australia’s Head of Community Engagement.
“We want to thank community and industry for their feedback. We have heard from the community many times that we need to reduce the impact of aircraft operations on communities, in keeping with our legislated obligations, and making decisions which reduce the number of people overflown is a key way to achieve this.”
Assessment reports are available via Noise Action Plan for Brisbane | Engage Airservices for a four-week public review and comment period.
About Airservices
Airservices Australia is a government-owned organisation responsible for safely and efficiently managing air traffic in 11 per cent of the world’s airspace, as well as the provision of aviation rescue fire fighting services at Australia’s busiest airports. We are regulated by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and work closely with our customers and industry to support the long-term growth of the aviation industry.
