Airservices opens up feedback for Ballina Byron airspace changes

“As part of this change, we will also have new published flightpaths for arrivals and departures called Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) and Standard Instrument Arrivals (STARs),” said Airservices.

“These are like roads in the sky which aircraft follow, resulting in a more efficient flow of traffic to and from Ballina Byron Gateway Airport.”

The draft flightpath options are available online, and Airservices’ head of community engagement, Donna Marshall, said the air traffic control body will closely work with the community on the proposed changes.

“Where possible, we have designed flightpaths to mirror current aircraft movements. We have also sought to minimise the impact of aircraft operations on communities, where safe and practicable,” she said.

“We will genuinely consider all community perspectives and share the outcome in a further round of engagement.

“Airservices never compromises on safety, which is our No.1 remit, no matter the location across Australia. We remain committed to supporting the safe growth of regional aviation and ease of access at major regional airports such as Ballina Byron Gateway Airport.”

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Airservices had initially planned to launch digital aerodrome services (DAS) at Ballina Byron, but this has been pushed back, with a conventional tower to be used in the interim. A spokesperson told Australian Aviation that options being explored include a mobile control tower.

“While our intention at the time of the CASA announcement was to provide this by way of a DAS, it was later determined that the delivery risk of deploying a DAS at Ballina in this timeframe was too great given our existing commitments to deploy DAS at Canberra and Western Sydney International Airport (WSIA) in 2025 and 2026 respectively,” the spokesperson said.

“Consequently, to mitigate delivery risk and to protect the DAS deployments at Canberra and WSIA, the DAS deployment at Ballina was deferred.

“Canberra Airport DAS will provide significant insights into the benefits of DAS on a cross runway aerodrome. By leveraging lessons learned we can expect a more efficient and effective deployment of DAS technology for Ballina.”

Digital aerodrome services use cameras and computer-aided technology to allow for air traffic control to operate at an airport without the need for a physical tower. Western Sydney International will be the first airport designed for DAS when it opens in 2026.

David Webb, Airservices’ head of transformation – OneSKY and aerospace, told Australian Aviation last year that DAS offers air traffic controllers the ability to quickly spot unexpected people or vehicles on runways and keep track of different aircraft, in addition to their benefits in cost and speed of deployment.

“In a tower environment, you need to be looking out the window to see what’s going on. When you replace that with screens, the camera can spot the aircraft for you and tag it for you. So rather than go ‘where is Alpha Bravo Charlie?’, various systems have already picked it up for you,” he said.

“You have the same controller doing the same job they do, with all these enhancements for themselves that do it a lot more safely.”

Airservices will hold seven community engagement sessions around the Ballina region, with community feedback open until 8 September.