Suburbs to the immediate west of Sydney Airport are affected by aircraft arriving to (“east flow”) and departing from (“west flow”) the east-west runway.

Below: east flow (left) and west flow (right)

Sydney’s seasonal wind patterns mean that you are more likely to experience arrivals in the warmer months and departures in the cooler months. This is because aircraft need to take off and land into the wind. You are also more likely to experience traffic in non-peak periods when the east-west runway is used whenever possible for noise sharing purposes. Non-peak periods are generally:

• 6:00 – 7:00am,
• 11:00 – 3:00pm, and
• after 8:00pm.

These times may vary, however. There will also be days when the wind conditions make use of the two north-south parallel runways impossible, and on such days you are likely to experience heavy levels of traffic for prolonged periods.

Arrivals – east flow

Arriving aircraft must align with the runway from a considerable distance out from the airport, and fly straight in. This means that aircraft arriving to land on the east-west runway will always fly over suburbs such as Picnic Point, Penshurst, Hurstville, Bexley and Rockdale. The following image shows actual tracks of arriving aircraft.

Departures – west flow

Aircraft departing towards the west will turn to their heading when they reach 1,500 feet (for jets) or 800 feet (for non-jets). As different types of aircraft have different climbing abilities, they will reach this altitude at different points after take-off and therefore begin their turns at different points in the air. This has the effect of creating a spread of aircraft as can be seen in the image below.

If the aircraft is proceeding to destinations to the west such as Perth or south such as Melbourne it will maintain the runway heading for longer before turning.The following image shows actual tracks of departing aircraft.

Departures – north flow

When aircraft are departing from the westernmost of the parallel runways, non-jets (turbo-prop aircraft) that are heading for southerly or westerly destinations will turn left after departure when they reach the altitude of 600 feet. This will create a spread of aircraft, taking them over suburbs such as Kingsgrove, Beverley Hills and Peakhurst. This is illustrated in the track image below.

Jet and turbo-prop aircraft that are heading for destinations to the west, north and north-west will fly over or near your area after departure from Sydney Airport. This corridor is labelled D5 in the image, right. These flights are bound for destinations such as Dubbo, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Broome, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

As shown in the image below of actual tracks of departing aircraft, there are two concentrated flight paths. One tracks towards Richmond, passing over suburbs such as Ermington, Baulkham Hills and South Windsor. The other tracks towards Katoomba over Parramatta, St Clair and South Penrith.

Aircraft will also fly on either side of these two flight paths. This traffic is being individually directed by air traffic control in order to manage the volume of aircraft in the airspace. For example, a slower aircraft may be moved off the main flight path in order to take it out of the way of a faster jet behind it.

Altitudes over your area will vary according to factors such as the weight of the aircraft and how heavily laden it is. For example, long-haul aircraft departing for Dubai will be much heavier than smaller aircraft heading to Perth or Adelaide due to fuel load and aircraft size and therefore they will climb more slowly. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) for an Airbus A380 is 560,000kg and for a Boeing B747 it is 396,890kg. The MTOW of an A320 is 73,500kg and for an A330 it is 230,000kg.

While differences in weight will affect an aircraft’s climb rate, even the atmospheric conditions at the time can play a part in how quickly an aircraft can climb. When the weather is warm, the air is less dense and therefore there is less lift and the aircraft climbs more slowly.

Generally, the average altitude of an A380 over Parramatta is around 5,500 feet and over South Penrith around 9,000 feet. In contrast the average for the smaller A320 or B737 over Parramatta is around 6500 feet and over South Penrith around 14,000 feet.

Over Baulkham Hills an A380’s average altitude is around 7000 feet and over Richmond around 11,500 feet. An A320/B737 would be at an average of around 8,500 feet over Baulkham Hills and 15,000 feet over Richmond.

This image shows the tracks of departing aircraft:

There are helicopter routes between Sydney Airport, the harbour and the coast. Scenic helicopter flights in these areas are becoming increasingly popular, especially on weekends and holidays.

Helicopters will fly these routes in one of two ways outline below. Helicopters may fly outside these routes if (for example):

• they are bound for other destinations, or
• by direction of air traffic control, or
• if they are conducting “airwork” such as aerial filming, photography or surveying, shark spotting, or
• if they are performing emergency services operations.

Option 1: To/from the north

Helicopters inbound to Sydney Airport from the north will track from Darling Harbour to Central Railway station, usually at 1000 feet. Altitudes may vary on instruction by air traffic control.  They will then follow the railway line to Redfern Station.  From there they track to Erskineville Oval before descending to 500 feet while tracking to The Stamford Hotel on the outskirts of the airport. Instructions are then given for tracking to the helipad.

Outbound helicopters track via The Stamford to Erskineville Oval and then via Redfern Railway Station and the railway line to Central, and then to Darling Harbour, all at 1,000 feet.

Option 2: To/from the West

Helicopters inbound to Sydney Airport from the west will track from Maroubra Beach to Heffron Park on Bunnerong Road and to Eastgardens Shopping Centre at 1,000 feet.  From there they towards Southern Cross Drive while descending to 500 feet (altitudes may vary on instruction by air traffic control).  They are then given instructions by air traffic control for tracking to the helipad.

Outbound helicopters track via Southern Cross Drive to Eastgardens Shopping Centre at 1,000 feet and then to Maroubra Beach.  Once east of the coast they will descend to 500 feet which is the minimum altitude for flight over water.