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Helicopters and scenic flights

The Gold Coast is popular with domestic and international tourists and this creates demand for helicopter joy flights and scenic helicopter tours. In general, these operations increase when the weather is fine and clear and during holiday periods. There also tends to be an increase of this activity coinciding with Chinese New Year celebrations.

There are a significant amount of helicopters involved in recreational activities in and around the Gold Coast area. They operate from helipads in the Southport area, such as Sea World and the Marina Mirage. These helicopter activities are considered as ‘standard operations’ and are permitted.

An extract of the typical paths used by these aircraft is shown in the following image:

The majority of light aircraft and helicopters operate outside or underneath controlled airspace, and this is the case for the helicopters operating at the northern end of the Gold Coast. As the airspace is uncontrolled, these operations are not under the direction of air traffic control however Civil Aviation Safety Authority Regulations still apply and must be adhered to.

Helicopter tour companies use a number of noise mitigation strategies such as varying their tracking to ensure they are not overflying the same residences each flight. Pilots are instructed to climb as quickly as possible and to avoid situations that increase rotor blade slap.

Helicopters, like fixed-wing aircraft land and take-off into the wind for safety reasons. This means the wind direction at the helipad usually determines whether or not they depart to the north or to the south. While the scenic route is similar regardless of the departure direction, residents will observe flights in opposite directions at times and as a result the altitudes of the helicopters may differ between flights.

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Noise Complaints and Information Service Report

We manage complaints and enquiries about aircraft noise and operations through our Noise Complaints and Information Service (NCIS). The information below is collected for the purpose of complaint management, analysis of issues and identification of causal factors.

For this reason we refer to ‘complainants’ and ‘issues’. Complainants are people who contacted us. While some people submitted enquiries or comments rather than complaints, all are referred to as “complainants”. Issues are the primary concern they raised.

The complaints report

Use this interactive tool to explore the issues raised by residents from different suburbs. For help, click the button in the bottom right-hand corner.

This report is best viewed in full screen mode.

View full screen
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Investigate flight path usage in your area

WebTrak My Neighbourhood (left) is an extension of WebTrak that presents historical information about aircraft noise and flight path use to provide an understanding of patterns over time.

Using this tool you can explore arrival, departure or both types of flight paths by month, quarter or year to see:

  • the percentage of traffic on each flight path
  • the number of aircraft that used the flight path
  • the number of hours the flight path was not used
  • weekday and weekend use
  • day, evening and night-time use
  • noise monitoring data

Access information about how to use WebTrak My Neighbourhood, including a downloadable guide

Visit WebTrak My Neighbourhood – Gold Coast

Below: a departure flight path ‘swathe’ with tag showing percentage of departure traffic, number of flights and hours of respite for that flight path in the selected timeframe

Below: Click the “i” on any flight path tag to see more detailed data

Below: noise monitoring data tags

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Brisbane Airport noise abatement

Noise Abatement Procedures

Every major airport has Noise Abatement Procedures (NAPs), which are procedures designed to reduce the impact of aircraft noise on the community. There are some limitations to the use of NAPs and they may not be used if they generate delay and congestion, as this can cause noise and emission impacts. Air traffic control or pilots may not be able to use them in certain situations, for example weather conditions or operational requirements. 

The main Noise Abatement Procedures currently in use at Brisbane Airport are:

Preferred runways

Air traffic control nominates the runway for use to ensure safety and operational requirements are met, depending on the weather conditions. If weather conditions do not favour a specific runway, the ‘preferred’ runway is used, two of the main points are set out below.

  • From 6 am to 10 pm, providing wind and traffic management safety requirements permit, arrivals over Moreton Bay and departures over Brisbane suburbs from Runway 19 L/R is the preferred option.
  • From 10 pm to 6 am, providing wind and traffic management safety requirements permit, Simultaneous Opposite Direction Parallel Runway Operations (SODPROPS) are used to enable aircraft to depart and land over Moreton Bay, arrivals onto Runway 19R and departures on Runway 01R.

If the downwind in the southerly direction exceeds 5 knots or there is downwind and the surface is wet, to comply with runway selection criteria, northerly runway direction operations will be nominated. Aircraft will then land over the city and depart over the bay. If conditions change quickly and the forecast suggests it may continue to change, a change of runway direction may not occur immediately or at all, if our air traffic controllers are satisfied that the runway selection criteria is adhered to.

Reciprocal runway operations

During night operations (10 pm to 6 am) Simultaneous Opposite Direction Parallel Runway Operations (SODPROPS) is the preferred operating mode. SODPROPS sees all aircraft operate over the bay by using one runway for departures and the other for arrivals.

To operate SODPROPS visibility must be eight kilometres or greater, the cloud base must be 2500 feet or higher, the downwind must be less than 5 knots and the runway surfaces must be dry.

If SODPROPS cannot be used, the NAPs specify that the southern end of the new runway should not be used during the night period.

Using SODPROPS during day operations

SODPROPS sees all aircraft operate in the same airspace. This means aircraft are ascending and descending in the same airspace and regularly crossing flight paths. This complexity prohibits the use of SODPROPS during busy periods which tends to be throughout the day period. Our air traffic controllers will use SODPROPS during day operations when possible however the traffic density often precludes this. At this time, while traffic numbers are lower than expected, we tend to see the SODPROPS mode maintained after 6am and commence prior to 10pm.

Intersection departures

The NAPs specify that aircraft heavier than 30 000 kilograms cannot use an intersection departure, except when complying with certain ICAO requirements.

Any aircraft below this weight can use an intersection departure and will do so if necessary.

Intersection departures are not permitted by any aircraft between 10pm and 6am, with the exception of a limited number of turbo-prop aircraft from 5am.

Temporary NAP

We will implement a temporary Noise Abatement Procedure to adjust the turbo-prop traffic spread to match what would have been experienced had COVID-19 not affected traffic volumes. This will increase operations in the areas between the short and long approaches (the swathe) during periods of high demand, while the shorter visual approach will still occur when traffic volumes are generally lower.

This temporary procedure will be in place until operations increase to both runways, which will then result in a similar traffic management outcome – with more aircraft operating within the ‘swathes’.

Learn more about turbo-prop operations during COVID-19 on our How do turbo-prop aircraft fly? page.

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Will flights increase in the future in my area?

Flight Path and Airspace Changes

Visit Engage Airservices to engage with our program of flight path and airspace changes.

Airport Master Plans

Airport Master Plans provide a blueprint for the future development of an airport over a twenty year period. They include information on forecast growth, airport terminals and facilities, runways and flight paths.

Who is responsible for master planning?

Airports are responsible for producing the master plan, while the overall process is administered and regulated by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications.

Sydney Airport

The Sydney Airport Master Plan 2039 and Environment Strategy 2019 – 2024 can be found on the Sydney Airport website.

Bankstown and Camden Airport

The Bankstown and Camden Airports Master Plans can be found on the Sydney Metro Airports website.

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RAAF Amberley

The Air Force undertakes routine flying activities at RAAF Base Amberley. The majority of the flying training occurs in designated training areas, situated over farming, rural and overwater areas, which helps reduce the time aircraft spend over residential areas.

Amberley Flying Training Areas include:

  • Western Training Area: The western training area is essential airspace for training all RAAF Base Amberley aircraft including the F/A-18F Super Hornet, KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft and the C-17A Globemaster III. The western training area airspace is located west of RAAF Base Amberley and commences south west of Toowoomba.
  • Over water training areas: The Northern Training Area, Northern Bridge, Central Training Area, Southern Training Area, and Southern Bridge are airspaces located overwater to the East of the coastline.
  • Evans Head: The Evans Head Air Weapons Range is primarily used by Amberley based F/A-18F Super Hornets to conduct ground attack training. This is the only weapons range within the training radius of the F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft from their home base at Amberley.

Noise Mitigation

The Department of Defence Aircraft Noise Management Strategy outlines how they work with local communities to reduce noise impacts, while balancing operational and training requirements.

Flying operations are conducted in consideration of local communities, whilst maintaining the safe operation of the aircraft. More information can be found in the:

You can access more information on military aircraft activity at: