Brisbane’s new runway commenced operations on 12 July 2020 .

Brisbane Airport Corporation and Airservices are working with stakeholders across community, government and industry to ensure that the Brisbane Airport operations meet the highest safety standards and incorporate the most environmentally sustainable practices, wherever practicable.

Airservices conducted a Post Implementation Review (PIR) of the flight paths and airspace changes implemented to support parallel operations, and the associated aircraft noise impacts. The final PIR report, released in 2022, recommended a series of actions to improve noise outcomes for the community. These are being delivered through the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane.

We are currently working through the recommendations and presenting options as they are developed to the community for feedback. Our immediate priorities are actions which aim to:

• Reduce the impact of over-water operations that fly over communities as aircraft cross the coastline
• Reduce the impact of night-time operations on communities
• Extend the use of Simultaneous Opposite Direction Parallel Runway Operations (SODPROPS) and other over-water operations
• Reduce the concentration of operations over communities.

You can visit the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane page on Engage Airservices to register to stay up to date with our engagement and the options as they are developed and implemented.

While jet aircraft usually fly on published flight paths, turbo-propeller or turbo-prop aircraft (non-jet) have a range of different performance capabilities and therefore fly in a range of ways.

Some turbo-props fly on the published instrument arrival flight paths, while others use the published visual approaches which includes vectoring from air traffic control (ATC).

Turbo-prop departures are allocated headings by ATC based on their destination. This is to keep them safely separated from jet operations, due to differences in aircraft capability (for example speed and altitude of operations), and to maintain a steady flow of traffic.

This means we see a broad area where turbo-props may fly.

Impact of COVID-19 on aircraft operations

Aircraft are flying in accordance with the published procedures. The impacts of COVID-19 restrictions, and the subsequent reduction in interstate jet traffic movements during border closures, resulted in a different distribution of traffic across flight paths and areas of operation.

This is because air traffic control has not needed to use parallel runway operations due to the lower traffic levels.

This has resulted in a greater spread of turbo props outside of the ’swathe’ of operations than we expected.

Turbo props use a mix of jet and non-jet flight paths including visual approaches. A visual approach is when a pilot is operating the aircraft by visual references. This approach can therefore vary by several kilometres.

Changes to turbo-prop operations

We have worked closely with Brisbane Airport to understand the safety and traffic management requirements during this period of disruption.

We will implement a temporary Noise Abatement Procedure to adjust the 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’.

Turbo props will continue to fly visual approaches after we return to parallel runway operations, generally in non-peak times.

Arrivals

Turbo-props need to be managed to make sure they can safely arrive along with jet operations. When the airport is busier, turbo-props more commonly arrive using the published flight paths so they can be safely separated from the jet aircraft traffic by air traffic control.

As there has been low jet traffic at Brisbane airport, turbo props were able to conduct visual approaches and arrive on a more direct path to the runway from their locations.

With borders opening and traffic levels increasing to the existing runway, more turbo-prop aircraft will be required to fly on the published instrument flight paths as they are processed in parallel with jet traffic to both runways.

Click on the images above to open a larger view in a new tab.

Departures

Turbo-props are usually assigned a heading at the departure end of the runway, depending on their destination. You will notice that turbo-prop aircraft using the legacy runway at night are quite spread out.

With borders opening and traffic levels increasing to the existing runway, more turbo-prop aircraft will depart from the existing runway.

Click on the images above to open a larger view in a new tab.

Learn more about operations during COVID-19 on our Impact of COVID-19 on flight operations at Brisbane Airport page.

---

Note: All tracks during the stated month have been displayed. Track colours have been adjusted to show track density. Where aircraft are more concentrated the colour will appear darker.

Aircraft movement numbers

Due to the impacts of COVID-19 there was an overall decrease in aircraft movements at Brisbane Airport. A comparison with the monthly figures for September 2019 shows that jet movements decreased by 67% while turbo-prop movements decreased by 36%.

Aircraft destinations

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and border closures most of the operations at Brisbane Airport were intrastate (within Queensland and therefore flying north) and operated by regional carriers who fly turbo-props and small jets.

At the same time there has was a reduction in flights between Brisbane and southern locations such as Sydney and Melbourne and very limited flights arriving from outside of Australia.

The runway management strategy at Brisbane Airport (as consulted with the community) directs aircraft arriving from or departing to the north to use Runway 19R/Runway 01L (the new runway). As a result of more intrastate traffic there was greater use of Runway 19R/01L.

Arrivals

Click on the images above to open a larger view in a new tab.

Departures

Click on the images above to open a larger view in a new tab.

Aircraft types

Many intrastate operations are serviced by turbo-prop aircraft rather than jet aircraft. Prior to COVID-19 turbo-prop traffic made up 25% of total movements at Brisbane Airport. Due to the reduced number of jet movements turbo-prop traffic became a larger percentage and represented 38% of all aircraft movements at Brisbane Airport.

Arrivals

Click on the images above to open a larger view in a new tab.

Departures

Click on the images above to open a larger view in a new tab.

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

Return to normal operations

Traffic patterns were in a state of flux through to the early part of 2022 due to the impact of COVID-19 on airline operations and schedules.

Since April 2022, we have seen an increase in flights to and from southern destinations (such as Sydney and Melbourne) and the gradual return of international air traffic.

In 2024, we are seeing domestic travel return to pre-COVID levels around the country. International travel, while increasing, remains below 2019 levels. We anticipate the recovery of international travel will continue into 2024.

---

Note: All tracks during the stated month have been displayed. Track colours have been adjusted to show track density. Where aircraft are more concentrated the colour will appear darker.

Air traffic control manage the traffic to each runway at an airport using a range of operations which can include clearing aircraft to use published flight paths, issuing visual approaches or vectoring for separation and sequencing. As the runway in use changes, the types of operations in use will also change, and so different suburbs and areas are affected by aircraft movements.

Flight paths do not operate in isolation. They are part of an interconnected network. Flight paths need to accommodate aircraft operating constraints, provide terrain clearance and fit into the overall airspace design.

Arrivals

Arriving aircraft need to align with the runway prior to touching down. Depending on the arrival or approach procedure being flown, aircraft may align with the runway from a few kilometres to beyond twenty kilometres from touchdown.

When the sky is clear and there is no low cloud along the approach path, aircraft may join the runway alignment closer to the airport. If there is low cloud or other weather impeding visual conditions, aircraft will align with the runway further from touchdown and will fly the published flight path.

A further consideration is the density of traffic. If there are frequent arrivals to both runways, aircraft will align with the runway further from touchdown in accordance with established parallel runway flight procedures.

Departures

Departing aircraft can turn once they are airborne and stabilised. Both turbo-prop and jet aircraft operate at Brisbane Airport. These aircraft types have different operational capabilities and are separated accordingly.

Departures from the new runway plan to fly to ports to the north or the west, and are required to turn. The departure procedure for turbo-prop aircraft sees these aircraft types turn at an altitude of 600 feet but not before the runway end. This is necessary to move the aircraft onto the planned route and also to move the aircraft out of the path of the faster moving jet aircraft.

Jet aircraft maintain the runway heading on departure. They do so in order to gain altitude so that when they do turn, they are higher than the propeller aircraft departures and can safely pass above them.

If turbo-prop and jet aircraft departed on the same flight path there would be more time needed between movements due to differences in the operational capabilities. This would impact the efficient operation of the airport by reducing the throughput of aircraft.

Alternative Flight Paths

The Brisbane new parallel runway operations design has certain modes of operation and generally aircraft departing to or arriving from the west or the north will land and depart on the new runway, while aircraft departing to or arriving from the south or east will land and depart on the legacy runway.

However to maximise the safety and efficiency of operations, the airspace design also includes flight paths that track from all directions to both runways. 

This provides air traffic control with the option to use these flight paths to effectively manage air traffic in high workload periods, including when there is bad weather, runway maintenance or an emergency, or in periods of air traffic delays, including holding.

---

Learn more about how the runways are selected on our Brisbane Airport Runways page.

Brisbane Airport has two parallel runways oriented North-South – Runway 01R/19L (existing/legacy), and Runway 01L/19R (new) which opened on 12 July 2020. Both runways are shown in the image below with orange and yellow arrows at either end.

The image below shows the runways, with:

• The orange arrows pointing to Runway 01L/19R
• The yellow arrows pointing to Runway 01R/19L.

A cross runway (14/32) was de-commissioned as part of the construction of the new runway.

Each runway is referred to differently according to in which direction it is being used, as explained in the following video.

When Brisbane airport is operating in a northerly direction runways 01R and 01L are in use, and runways 19L and 19R are used when the airport is in a southerly direction.

Runway numbering reflects the runways’ orientation and correlates with degrees on a compass. Runway 19 is at 190 degrees.

Runway selection

Operations are divided into two time periods. The day period is 6am to 10pm and the night period is 10pm to 6am.

During the day period, the runway used is based on the planned route of the aircraft. Aircraft planning a route through the north or the west use the new runway, and through the east or the south, the legacy runway.

At night aircraft will when possible operate over Moreton Bay. Arrivals use one runway and departures the other. As the overnight traffic volume is light, aircraft can more readily operate in the same airspace.

Weather conditions

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.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) sets the rules for the provision of Air Traffic Control services. These rules include criteria applying to air traffic control for nominating the runway direction.

If a runway surface is dry, it should not be nominated for use if the downwind exceeds 5 knots. Downwind is wind that blows towards the tail of the aircraft. If the runway surface is wet, it should not be nominated if there is any downwind. For this reason the runway that is nominated for use will usually have a headwind, or if there is downwind, it will be below the criteria.

---

Learn more about seasonal changes in your area on our How seasonal variation affects your area page.

The airspace surrounding Brisbane Airport is controlled from the ground level up. The base of the controlled airspace rises moving outwards from Brisbane Airport, with the airspace below the base being uncontrolled. Light aircraft and helicopters often remain in uncontrolled airspace to remain separated from large passenger aircraft that transit through controlled airspace.

The following image shows light aircraft and helicopter movements in uncontrolled airspace throughout the Brisbane region. As you can see, these flights remain clear of Brisbane Airport:

This however does not mean light aircraft and helicopters are restricted from entering controlled airspace. In order to access this airspace, the aircraft operator requires an airspace clearance and is obligated to abide by air traffic control directions once in the controlled airspace. In the Brisbane region, the most common user of this airspace apart from Brisbane Airport traffic is medical helicopters flying to and from local hospitals. The following image shows some of these flights:

Archerfield Airport also has a pocket of controlled airspace surrounding the airport. A difference to Brisbane’s controlled airspace though is that Archerfield’s is only active from 7:00am – 5:00pm. Outside of these hours the airspace around Archerfield is uncontrolled.

In busy airspace where there is a mix of controlled and uncontrolled airspace, lanes are often established to ensure pilots transiting through the airspace remain outside of controlled airspace. One such lane passes between Brisbane’s and Archerfield’s control zones. The following image shows aircraft using this lane. The control zones for Brisbane Airport and Archerfield Airport are shaded grey. Pilots navigating along these lanes do so with visual reference to landmarks that are easy to recognise from the air which in this case is the University of Queensland and the brickworks in Rochedale. Both of this places are referenced on the map:

New flight paths commenced at Brisbane Airport on 12 July 2020. You can find out more about the new flight paths on our When is each flight path used page.

To learn more about the runways at Brisbane Airport, take a look at our Brisbane Airport Runways page.

The illustration below shows how aircraft typically operate following the new runway opening.

Some changes were made to departure flight paths on 28 November 2024. The North East Flow image below will be updated to show the changes once we have captured enough representative data. You can view the flight path changes on the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane | Engage Airservices page.

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

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:

• Air Force Fly Neighbourly Policy 
• RAAF Amberley Base Noise Management Plan
• RAAF Base Amberley