One of NSW's busiest regional airports, Ballina-Byron Gateway, will become controlled airspace from next week, with an interim control tower starting operations.
Class C and D airspace steps will become active from Thursday 9 July, with CTR to operate from the surface to 1500 feet extending 7 nm from the airport reference point, with Class D up to 4500 feet out to 20 nm, and Class C over the top.
The changes have been in the pipeline since an Office of Airspace Regulation (OAR) review in 2022 recommended controlled airspace after several incidents brought attention to increasing traffic at Ballina, which also has heavy RPT traffic.
"From 9 July, an interim service called the Ballina Alpha Tower Solution [BATS] will take effect," CASA Director of Aviation Safety and CEO Pip Spence said earlier this month. "We see this collectively as being the safest practical option compared to what the realistic alternatives are at the moment.
"There will be some conditions around [BATS], which include a robust contingency plan where Airservices provides approach services to the ground if the interim tower isn't available, there's a requirement for a second controller during BATS operations, and a baseline separation standard."
For private and recreational pilots, it means that transponders will now be required to use Ballina. Holders of Recreational Pilot Certificates are expected able to use Ballina CTR/A by the end of the year once RAAus' new Flight Operations Manual is approved.
Accompanying the new CTA/R steps are six new standard arrival paths (STARs) and three standard instrument departures (SIDs). VFR approach points will become effective at:
- Abeam Suffolk Park (ASFK)
- Newrybar (NEWB)
- Clunes (CLUN)
- Wollongbar (WOBR)
- Coraki (CORK)
- Broadwater (BROD).
To accommodate the changes, several SIDs are also being introduced at Lismore.
The new airspace and approach points are marked on the 9 July cycle of the Gold Coast VTC.
CASA recognised the need to do something about rising traffic levels at Ballina in 2015, when a report recommended establishing a Certified Air/Ground Radio Service (CA/GRS). However, the service failed to stop a near-collision in September 2017 between a Cessna Caravan and a Robinson R22.
Airservices Australia established a Surveillance Flight Information Service (SFIS) at Ballina-Byron in 2021, after another proximity incident involving an Airbus A320 and a Jabiru J230 the previous year.
However, another incident involving an Airbus and a Caravan occurred when the SFIS was active in September 2021.
In June 2022, the OAR handed down an airspace review report, which recommended a Class D tower as the best solution for the increasing traffic.
-Steve Hitchen