For years, aircraft noise around Ballina Byron Gateway Airport has been shared across suburbs in a scattered pattern.

But now, with Airservices Australia locking in its final flightpath design, some residents will find themselves directly under concentrated “roads in the sky” – and facing noise they can’t avoid.

The new approach and departure paths, announced this week, aim to streamline traffic as Ballina prepares to move into controlled airspace in June next year.

What’s changing

• Landings: Aircraft will track more evenly between Teven, Tintenbar and Cumbalum to reduce the total number of people overflown.
  
• Take-offs: Departures will be shifted to the south of Alstonville, with a simplified runway-aligned design intended to lessen noise for that community.
  

While these changes promise some relief for residents of Alstonville, parts of Skennars Head and parts of Cumbalum, they also mean the noise will become far more concentrated for those households sitting directly beneath the new designated flight paths.

Why it’s happening

Airservices says the changes are needed to handle growing passenger numbers and aircraft movements in Ballina.

The airspace will transition from pilots self-separating in uncontrolled skies to a fully managed system under Airservices’ approach and aerodrome control services.

The new “Standard Instrument Departures” and “Standard Instrument Arrivals” are essentially fixed aerial highways, designed to improve safety and efficiency.

Community consultation

Airservices Head of Community Engagement Donna Marshall said safety was the first priority but community concerns shaped the final design.

“An important part of this process was listening to community views and minimising noise impacts where safe and feasible,” Ms Marshall said. 

“The preferred design received positive feedback in our second round of engagement, and that is the design we are now adopting.”

Next steps

Controlled airspace comes into effect on June 11 next year.  Initially, air traffic control will operate from a mobile tower at Ballina Airport between 7am and 8pm daily, before transitioning to a digital service in the longer term.

A review will be carried out 12 months after the new system is introduced, comparing the modelled forecasts with actual flight data and including community feedback on how the changes are working in practice.