Airservices Australia yesterday released the final flight paths for Ballina-Byron Gateway Airport, which will not be changed from the preliminary designs presented in November 2024.
A Class D tower at Ballina-Byron will commence operations in June 2026, which has prompted new airspace architecture and flight path designs.
The new paths will include six STARs and three SIDs, reliant on the runway in use and also the status of the restricted airspace at Evans Head.
Airservices Australia Head of Community Engagement Donna Marshall said the final flightpath design was driven by a combination of factors including safety, efficiency and the natural environment.
“Airservices airspace modernisation program sees us committed to enhancing the safety and efficiency of Australia’s airspace at major regional airports and improving accessibility to these locations for the aviation industry,” Marshall said.
“An important part of this process was listening to community views and minimising community noise impacts where safe and feasible.
“The changes included between our first and second round of engagement received a positive response from the community, with Airservices adopting the preferred design for implementation."
Private and recreational VFR aircraft cleared into Ballina airspace will be given individual clearances and won't be required to follow the published flight paths.
Changes to the airspace at Ballina have also prompted changes to IFR operations at Lismore with two SIDs introduced to keep aircraft out of Ballina airspace.
The flightpaths of both Ballina and Lismore are available from the Airservices Australia engagement website.