CASA announced this week that they would conduct a review of the airspace surrounding Mangalore Airport in Victoria.
Mangalore is situated north-east of Melbourne and is the home to both fixed-wing and helicopter training schools, and is in a region that carries a lot of traffic from gliders and skydivers, as well as traffic transiting from Melbourne to the north and north-east.
The airport also has one of the few VORs left in the state that can be used for training, which attracts aircraft from Melbourne flying schools as well.
As part of a review of low-level en route airspace on the eastern seaboard, Airservices proposed a Surveillance Flight Information Service (SFIS) that was to have gone live on 9 September, but has been delayed.
However, CASA's Office of Airspace Regulation (OAR) has launched a study to determine if the airspace around the airport is suitable.
"The study will review within a 25 nautical mile area of Mangalore, including nearby aerodromes Puckapunyal, Graytown, Euroa and Locksley Field," the OAR said. "The OAR will be traffic types and density from over the last five years and considering the feedback from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's report into the mid-air collision that occurred in 2020, should the final report be released before the conclusion of the study."
The OAR study will focus on:
- suitability of the airspace
- efficiency of the airspace
- equitable access to the airspace
- appropriateness of the airspace classification
- existing services and facilities provided by Airservices.
CASA has opened the study to public consultation, with feedback to be lodged online via the CASA Consultation Hub.
The study is open until 30 September.