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Perth Airport Runways

Perth Airport has two runways; the main runway 03/21 (3.4 km long) is orientated approximately north-south and the smaller cross runway 06/24 (2.2km) is orientated south-west to north-east.

Each runway is referred to differently according to in which direction it is being used. For example the main runway is known as Runway 03 when used in a northerly direction and Runway 21 when used in a southerly direction. Runway numbering reflects the runways’ orientation and correlates with degrees on a compass. Runway 21 is 210 degrees.

An Instrument Landing System operates for aircraft landing on Runways 03,21 and 24, and non-precision approaches are available to all runways.

The following video explains how runways are named and used.

Runway selection and seasonal winds

Runway selection is based on wind direction, weather conditions, traffic volume and other factors. Aircraft primarily take-off and land into the wind for safety and performance reasons. Therefore, as the wind direction changes the runway in operation may also change depending on the strength of the wind.

This means that Perth’s seasonal wind patterns affect usage of the different runway directions. Specifically, Runway 21 tends to be used more frequently in the warmer months due to southerly winds whereas Runway 03 tends to be used more frequently in the cooler months when the predominant wind direction tends to be northerly.

Runways may be used in combination. For example, Runways 03 and 06 may be used at the same time for departures, or Runways 21 and 24 may be used at the same time for arrivals.

Runway use in peak periods

One of the factors taken into account in runway selection is operational requirements. For example, two operational factors make Runway 21 a more suitable choice for departures during peak periods. Firstly, the location of the terminals and hangars in relation to the runways means that departing aircraft can be moved to Runway 21 more efficiently than to other runways. Secondly, because there is so much military restricted airspace to the north of Perth Airport, there is more airspace available to the south in which to manage the mix of slow and fast aircraft in the air after departure. Both these factors become critically important when the volume of traffic is high. For these reasons, Runway 21 will usually be selected in peak periods if the wind allows it. Therefore it can be expected that Runway 21 will be used whenever possible for the morning departure burst which is the busiest period at Perth Airport. This begins around 5 am.

Noise abatement procedures

Noise abatement procedures are designed to help reduce the impact of aircraft noise on communities. While they are applied whenever it is possible to do so, their use is not mandatory and is subject to weather conditions and traffic requirements.

The Perth Noise Abatement Procedures state that Runways 03, 21 and 24 are equally preferred for arrivals. For departures, Runways 03, 21 and 06 are equally preferred. Movements over the south-western end of the crossing runway that is, arrivals to Runway 06 and departures from Runway 24, are least preferred under the procedures. This is due to the very close proximity of residential areas to this end of the crossing runway. This runway end is used on occasion however, for example when there is too much crosswind to use the main runway, and when the main runway is unavailable for reasons such as runway works.

The procedures also provide that:

  • aircraft departing towards the north and turning east of Perth are to be kept on the Standard Instrument Departure track until leaving 8000 feet, unless there is an operational reason not to do so
  • departing aircraft will usually be given a Standard Instrument Departure (SID) but where this is not possible the route given will approximate the SID as closely as possible
  • arriving aircraft flying under instrument flight rules (IFR) must be given Standard Arrival Routes (STAR) where available. Any non-STAR tracking must approximate the STAR as closely as possible except in some specific circumstances
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Perth Airport Flight Paths

Flight paths for Perth Airport are designed around military airspace to the north, west and south, and Jandakot Airport airspace to the south. Military restricted areas are shown in pink in the image at right. Click to enlarge and use your back button to return to this page.

Military airspace

Military airspace (see image at right) can be active to ground level or it can begin at a certain altitude. Some military airspace is active only at certain times of the day and week. Where possible, flight paths are designed to remain under military airspace or to fly over the top of it. The close proximity of RAAF Base Pearce to the north means that air traffic controllers at Perth Airport have to coordinate their actions with RAAF controllers, including for changes of runway direction.

Flight path information

You can access historical information about flight path use through WebTrak. To access this information click the “Historical” link below the text in the Quick Start Guide at the top left-hand side of the screen. Then use the tick boxes at the bottom-right of the screen to select monthly, quarterly or yearly information. Use the sliders to refine your selection to specific timeframes.

To learn more about the runway at Perth Airport, take a look at our Perth Airport Runway page.

The illustration below shows how jet and non-jet (turbo-prop) aircraft typically operate at Perth Airport on the published instrument arrival and departure flight paths.

The animation is indicative only and provided for information purposes, on occasions flights may leave these general areas from time-to-time.

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When is each flight path used?

Flight paths are not precise, defined paths like runways, but more like corridors that are often several kilometres wide.

Arrivals

Jet arrivals into Perth are generally aligned with the runway at least ten kilometres from the airport. From this point they will fly towards the runway in a straight line. This means that suburbs in line with the runways are overflown by arriving jets. Other suburbs may be overflown by aircraft proceeding towards the point at which they join the final approach and align with the runway.

Runways 03, 21 and 24 have Instrument Landing Systems. This type of approach requires aircraft to be at around 3000 feet when they begin their approach. Aircraft will descend steadily to the runway using the horizontal and vertical guidance provided by the system.

There is no minimum altitude for aircraft in process of landing. Aircraft will generally descend on a glide slope of three degrees.

A growing number of modern aircraft are now fitted with navigation systems that use satellite-assisted guidance which allow aircraft to fly with a higher degree of accuracy and more closely follow the same route as other aircraft. Airservices refers to these routes as Smart Tracking. Smart Tracking technology makes air travel safer, cleaner and more dependable. It also has the potential to improve noise outcomes for communities living close to airports. A Smart Tracking approach was implemented to Runway 03 in 2015.

Departures

Departure flight paths allow aircraft to maintain the runway heading for a short time until they are stabilised in flight, and then to turn towards the route that will take them to their destination.

Around 60 per cent of all departures from Perth Airport depart to the south from Runway 21. Nearly two-thirds of this 60 per cent are heading for the eastern states and international ports such as New Zealand. These flights will turn left (east) from Runway 21. Around 40 per cent of this 60 per cent are aircraft heading for destinations to the west, north and north-west such as South Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Karratha, Paraburdoo and Port Hedland. These aircraft will turn right (west) after departure from Runway 21.

When Runway 03 is in use aircraft with westerly and northerly destinations will turn left. Some will continue northwards if military airspace is not active. Runway 03 is often used in combination with Runway 06, that is, both runways will be in use for departures at the one time. This means that air traffic controllers can only turn aircraft departing from Runway 03 right if it will not conflict with traffic departing Runway 06. When Runway 06 is used for departures, most of the domestic traffic to the eastern states will use that runway which minimises the need for aircraft to turn right from Runway 03.

The altitude of aircraft after departure will depend on factors such as the type of aircraft and its weight, how heavily laden it is with fuel and passengers, and the atmospheric conditions at the time. All these factors affect an aircraft’s climb rate. There is no regulated minimum altitude for an aircraft in the process of taking off.

Flight path information

You can access historical information about flight path use through WebTrak. To access this information click the “Historical” link below the text in the Quick Start Guide at the top left-hand side of the screen. Then use the tick boxes at the bottom-right of the screen to select monthly, quarterly or yearly information. Use the sliders to refine your selection to specific timeframes.

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How many aircraft fly near me?

This tool shows the number of flights each day over your area in the selected month compared to the average for last year.  The bottom axis shows the day of the month. Use the drop-down menu to change the selected month to see how movements have varied. Hover over each day to see flight numbers.

*Please note due to technical issues between 19 June and 22 June 2024, flight data may not be accurately displayed. Our supplier is working to resolve the issue. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

View full screen

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How many aircraft fly near me?

This tool shows the number of flights each day over your area in the selected month compared to the average for last year.  The bottom axis shows the day of the month. Use the drop-down menu to change the selected month to see how movements have varied. Hover over each day to see flight numbers.

*Please note due to technical issues between 19 June and 22 June 2024, flight data may not be accurately displayed. Our supplier is working to resolve the issue. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

View full screen

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Jandakot Airport Runways

Jandakot Airport has three runways. A set of parallel runways, known as Runways 06 Left/24 Right and Runways 06 Right/24 Left are aligned approximately north-east to south-west. These runways are used for approximately 85 per cent of all movements. The alternate runway, Runway 12/30, is aligned approximately north-west to south-east.

Each runway is referred to differently according to in which direction it is being used. For example, the parallel runways are referred to as Runway 06 Left and Right when used in a north-easterly direction and Runway 24 Left and Right when used in a south-westerly direction.

Runway numbering reflects the runways’ orientation and correlates with degrees on a compass. Runway 06 is 60 degrees magnetic.

The following video explains how runways are named and used.

Runway selection and seasonal winds

Runway selection is based on wind direction, weather conditions, traffic volume and other factors. See the Runway Selection page for more details. Aircraft primarily take-off and land into the wind for safety and performance reasons. Therefore, as the wind direction changes the runway in operation may also change depending on the strength of the wind.

This means that Perth’s seasonal wind patterns affect usage of the different runway directions. For example, Runways 06 Left and Right tend to be used more often in the cooler months when there are frequent winds with a northerly component. Runways 24 Left and Right tend to be used more frequently in the warmer months when the predominant wind direction tends to be southerly.

Outside of Tower operating hours the pilot must determine the runway to be used based on the wind direction.

Noise abatement procedures

Noise abatement procedures are designed to help reduce the impact of aircraft noise on communities. While they are applied whenever it is possible to do so, their use is not mandatory and is subject to weather conditions and traffic requirements.

The preferred runways for circuit training are Runways 06 Right and 24 Left. This means that most of the aircraft undertaking circuit training operate to the south-east of the airport. There are also set hours for circuit training.

Runways 06 Left and 24 Right are the preferred runways for other arrivals and departures.

There are voluntary ‘Fly Neighbourly Agreements’ between airport management and aircraft operators. These are intended to minimise the impact of aircraft noise on the surrounding community. More information is available on the Jandakot Airport website.

The principles of these Fly Neighbourly Agreements are, whilst maintaining safety of operations, to:

  • climb as soon as possible
  • maintain height
  • reduce engine revs as soon as possible
  • follow designated flight paths
  • avoid residential areas where possible
  • not fly wide circuits unless required by air traffic control

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Jandakot Airport Flight Paths

The majority of aircraft using Jandakot Airport fly under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). There are designated routes for VFR aircraft to ensure that VFR traffic remains separate from aircraft flying under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). It is not mandatory that VFR aircraft fly these routes, but many do, especially as they approach or depart airports.

These routes are outside controlled airspace (“OCTA”), that is, aircraft are not being directed by air traffic control. Whenever they fly outside controlled airspace, pilots are following the rules of the air. More information about airspace is found here.

VFR routes include defined entry and exit points to and from controlled airspace. These are landmarks that are easily seen by the pilot from the air. These landmarks are highlighted in the images below, which also show the average percentage of arrivals or departures that use the route.

There is no minimum altitude for aircraft in the process of landing. Aircraft will generally descend on a glide slope of three degrees.

The altitude of aircraft after departure will depend on factors such as the type of aircraft and its weight, how heavily laden it is with fuel and passengers, and the atmospheric conditions at the time. All these factors affect an aircraft’s climb rate. There is no regulated minimum altitude for an aircraft in the process of taking off.

Arrivals

The main inbound tracks are via Canning Bridge, Forrestdale Lake and Adventure World.

The inbound route from the south begins at the boatyard at Henderson where aircraft need to be at 1500 feet. Aircraft then track to Adventure World.

For aircraft arriving from the north-east and east, from Canning Dam aircraft track to a point near Forrestdale Lake while descending to 1500 feet. This keeps them under the Perth Airport Control Area.

From the north-west, aircraft will fly down the coast from around Two Rocks by which time they must be below 4500 feet. Aircraft must remain over water to separate them from outbound aircraft which will track over land. They must be below 4000 feet by Cervantes and 2000 feet by Lancelin. Approaching Mullaloo Pont aircraft must descend to below 1500 feet to remain clear of controlled airspace. They will turn inland at the South Fremantle Power Station and track to Adventure World, maintaining 1500 feet.

Departures

The main departure routes from Jandakot are northwest via the Fremantle Golf Course, southeast via Armadale and south towards the Training Area, via Yangebup and Thompson Lakes.

Outbound aircraft for the north-west track along the coast remaining over land to avoid the inbound route over the water. They must maintain the departure altitude of 1000 feet until over Murdoch University Open Space so as not to conflict with arrivals via Adventure World which are at 1500 feet. At that point they can climb to 1500 feet, but not above or they will infringe controlled airspace. After tracking to Fremantle Golf Course they either proceed to Rottnest Island at 1500 feet, or turn north.

Aircraft heading south will track via Yangebup Lake and Lake Thomson. If departing Runway 06 Left, they will make a left-hand turn and follow the railway line to the south-west in order to remain clear of traffic that may be on the base leg of the circuit. Once past the junction of the railway line and Kwinana Freeway they will track to Lake Yangebup. Aircraft then track via the eastern shoreline of the lakes and maintain the altitude of 1000 feet. Once past Casuarina Prison aircraft can climb up to 6000 feet.

The route for aircraft outbound to the east is via Armadale. One thousand feet must be maintained until abeam Forrestdale Lake to ensure separation from arriving aircraft at 1500 feet. From Armadale aircraft must remain below 3500 feet as they track towards Canning Dam.

Scenic Route

There is an established scenic route through Perth Airport’s controlled airspace via Fremantle Golf Course. Some flights will combine the scenic route with a visit to Rottnest Island, as can be seen in the image, right.

The route will vary depending on movements in and out of Perth Airport. It is either a right-hand turn towards the city at Cottesloe, or air traffic control may require the aircraft to fly further north past Cottesloe and City Beach before turning right and flying the route in reverse.

Training Area

Designated training areas have been established by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority for flight training. For Jandakot Airport these exist to the south of the airport. Once pilots progress past the circuit training stage of their courses they will begin flying to and around the training area.

Aircraft do not require a clearance from air traffic control to operate within the training areas because they are outside controlled airspace.

Three connected pieces of airspace comprise the training area. The first starts about 7km south of the airport and exists from the surface (“SFC”) up to 2500 feet. South of this the upper level rises to 3500 feet and then to 6000 feet. The training area extends south to Mandurah and Pinjarra then up to Serpentine Dam and up to the Byford area.

Low level aerobatics is also allowed in a number of areas, around Murray Field, Serpentine, and north of Mundijong.

Aircraft tracking to the training areas will track via Yangebup Lake and Lake Thomson. Tracking from the training areas to the airport the aircraft will either track coastal over Lake Coogee or via Forrestdale Lake.

There is also a helicopter training area on the airport directly to the east of Runway 06R / 24L. At times there may also be helicopter training to the south of Runway 12/30.

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Jandakot Airport Circuit Training

Circuit training is the first stage of practical pilot training focused on take-offs and landings. It involves the pilot making approaches to the runway or helipad, touching down and then applying power to take off again. This is undertaken in accordance with Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) Regulations which are consistent with international practices.

How circuits are conducted

Sixty per cent of movements at Jandakot Airport are undertaking circuit training, including both fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

A training circuit consists of five legs – the take-off, crosswind, downwind, base and final approach to the runway.

Aircraft take off into the wind, climb to 500 feet and then turn onto the crosswind leg. They continue to ascend to 1000 feet and turn onto the downwind leg. Having turned onto the base leg the descent commences. After turning onto the final leg and lining up with the runway the aircraft will touch down and take off again.

The preferred runways under the noise abatement procedures for circuit training are Runways 06 Right and 24 Left. This means most of the aircraft undertaking circuit training operate south-east of the airport.

“Left-hand” circuits will be conducted when Runway 24 Left is in use and “right-hand” circuits when Runway 03 Right is in use. For left-hand circuits, the pilot turns left after take-off and flies anticlockwise. For right-hand circuit, the pilot turns right and flies in a clockwise direction.

A simplified representation of a left-hand circuit is shown at right. The take off and final stage of the circuit is flown into the wind, as this is the safest way for an aircraft to operate. The aircraft symbols and dotted lines indicate recommended ways for an aircraft to join the circuit pattern. Click the image to enlarge it, and use your browser “Back” button to return to this page.

Jandakot Airport’s voluntary Fly Neighbourly Agreement asks signatories to keep circuits as narrow as possible. However, because the student pilots performing circuits are so new to flying, this is not always achievable.

More information about circuit training is found here.

Animation of the Jandakot circuit

The animated aircraft below and the static tracks shown in blue are created from actual tracks flown by aircraft in the circuit. This illustrates the degree of variation that will occur in the way student pilots fly circuits. The altitudes above mean sea level of the aircraft are also shown.

You can enlarge to full-screen by clicking the square-shaped button in the bottom right-hand corner of the player.

To replay the animation press the “Replay” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the player.


Effects of runway direction

Air traffic control will determine which runways are used at any given time depending on the direction of the wind – this is because aircraft must generally take off and land into the wind for safety reasons.

Depending on which runway direction is in use, different suburbs will be affected by different legs of the circuit. The Noise Complaints and Information Service tends to receive more complaints from suburbs under the crosswind and base legs of the circuit. This is the case at all airports where circuit training occurs.

The flight training circuits extend up to five kilometres from the airport. When Runway 06 Right or 24 Left are in use affected suburbs include Canning Vale, Jandakot, Banjup, Atwell, Success and Cockburn Central. When Runways 12 or 30 are in use affected suburbs also include Piara Waters, South Lake, North Lake and Leeming.


Circuit Training hours

Training during both day and night is important for developing pilot competencies, as is experience with using different types of navigational aids.

Circuit training times are set out in the noise abatement procedures for Jandakot Airport and are:

Weekdays: 7:00am – 10:30pm
Weekends: 8:00am – 6:00pm

Please note that these times above apply only to circuit training, and not to arriving and departing aircraft which may operate 24 hours a day.

While there are set times for circuit training it is important to note that when aircraft are arriving outside control tower hours they are required to fly a circuit before landing for safety reasons. Therefore it may seem like aircraft are flying circuits outside hours when this is not the case.


Altitudes

Select a quarter to see charts showing a breakdown of which side of the airport circuits were conducted in that period. The breakdowns are shown as percentages rather than total counts. This is because the source radar data for Jandakot Airport has gaps due to the radar being located at Perth Airport. As these gaps occur randomly throughout the day, the data, while incomplete, provides a representative picture of the distribution of circuits.

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What was that flight?

WebTrak is a tool that enables the community to see where aircraft fly and explore historical trends and patterns. WebTrak is provided by Envirosuite.

WebTrak uses information from air traffic control radars to display aircraft movements. The flight search and display function allows you to view aircraft flight activity over metropolitan areas. You can also:

  • locate your street address and have your home appear on the map
  • see noise levels of individual aircraft
  • view information about aircraft type, height, origin and destination
  • display an aircraft’s flight path and point of closest approach to your home
  • zoom in and out down to street level.

Note that there is a slight delay on the display of flights.

You can view WebTrak for your region here.

Or, find out more information about WebTrak and how to use it.

Posted on

What was that flight?

WebTrak is a tool that enables the community to see where aircraft fly and explore historical trends and patterns. WebTrak is provided by Envirosuite.

WebTrak uses information from air traffic control radars to display aircraft movements. The flight search and display function allows you to view aircraft flight activity over metropolitan areas. You can also:

  • locate your street address and have your home appear on the map
  • see noise levels of individual aircraft
  • view information about aircraft type, height, origin and destination
  • display an aircraft’s flight path and point of closest approach to your home
  • zoom in and out down to street level.

Note that there is a slight delay on the display of flights.

You can view WebTrak for your region here.

Or, find out more information about WebTrak and how to use it.