Master Plan 2009 - Sydney Airport

In Sydney, aircraft noise has been a longstanding
issue. Therefore, in close cooperation with the
key organisations listed above, Sydney Airport
remains committed to playing its part in effectively
managing and minimising the impacts of aircraft
noise, especially in communities in the vicinity
of the airport and under flight paths, where
these impacts can be higher than in other parts
of Sydney. These areas are not limited to those
forecast to be subject to noise exposure above 30
ANEF levels.
The plans, actions and strategies for managing
and reducing the impacts of aircraft noise in
areas around Sydney Airport fall into two broad
categories:
• those undertaken directly by SACL as the
airport-lessee company for Sydney Airport.
These issues are either directly within SACL’s
control or are issues for which it is primarily
responsible; and
• those undertaken by other stakeholders,
including by government or by the aviation
industry more broadly. These issues are either
not directly within SACL’s control or are issues
for which it is not primarily responsible.
The various plans, actions and strategies to
manage, ameliorate or prevent the impacts of
aircraft noise in communities around Sydney Airport
are dealt with below.
Facilitating implementation of the Long Term
Operating Plan (LTOP) for Sydney Airport
The Long Term Operating Plan (LTOP) for Sydney
Airport, which is implemented by Airservices
Australia, was developed in 1996 following an
extensive community consultation process. It
provides 31 recommendations to be followed
by Airservices Australia when implementing the
Australian Government’s noise sharing strategy
for Sydney Airport. Under the LTOP, when making
runway selections each day, Airservices Australia
must ensure that, subject to safety and weather
conditions:
• as many flights as practicable come and go
using flight paths over water or non-residential
areas.
• the rest of the air traffic is shared over other
communities as fairly as possible.
• Runway Modes change throughout the day so
individual areas have some break (or respite)
from aircraft noise on most days.
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Since 1998, Airservices Australia has implemented,
and continues to implement, the LTOP. Sydney
Airport supports the LTOP principles and the Master
Plan has been developed on that basis. Table 14.2
below compares runway end impact data for a
number of years since the LTOP commenced with
the forecast contained in the Master Plan.
Table 14.2 Runway end impacts since 1998
compared to 2029 forecast*
Year North South East west
1998 (LTOP target) 17% 55% 13% 15%
1998 (actual) 28.4% 51.8% 11.4% 8.4%
2000 26.6% 51.5% 14.8% 7.1%
2002 27.1% 49.4% 14.0% 9.5%
2004 28.3% 50.0% 12.8% 8.9%
2006 28.3% 50.3% 13.8% 7.6%
2023/24 (as forecast
in Master Plan 03/04)
30.9% 50.6% 12.6% 5.9%
2029 (as forecast in
Master Plan 2009)#
32.6% 49.4% 12.8% 5.2%
* The runway end impact percentages are
calculated using the same methodology used
by Airservices Australia in its published monthly
Sydney Airport Operational Statistics:
• Movements over the North = Rwy
16L(arrivals) + Rwy 16R(arrivals) + Rwy
34L(departures)
• Movements over the South = Rwy
16L(departures) + Rwy 16R(departures)
+ Rwy 34L(arrivals) + Rwy 34R(arrivals)
• Movements over the East = Rwy
07(departures) + Rwy 25(arrivals)
+ Rwy 34R(departures)
• Movements over the West = Rwy
07(arrivals) + Rwy 25(departures)
# These percentages were calculated using runway
end impact data used to prepare the revised
ANEF 2029 that was endorsed by Airservices
Australia on 13 March 2009.
Table 14.2 shows that, as air traffic increases
during the planning period, the opportunities for
noise sharing will decrease, but will not totally
disappear. For example, these figures show that the
year in which the LTOP commenced (1998), 80.2%
of all movements at Sydney Airport occurred to
the north or south of the airport. The Master Plan
03/04 indicated that, by 2023/24, 81.5% of all
movements are forecast to occur to the north or
south of the airport. By 2029, this Master Plan
forecasts that 82.0% of all movements at Sydney