New aircraft approach procedure at Albany Airport (WA)

Consultation has concluded.

Airservices Australia is implementing a new instrument approach procedure for aircraft arriving onto Runway 32 at Albany Airport to improve the reliability of aircraft operations in all-weather conditions. This new procedure is scheduled to start on 23 March 2023.

The new procedure is an area navigation approach, referred to as RNAV, which uses on-board global navigation satellite system technology to provide guidance to pilots. At Albany Airport, only the north-west end of the main runway, Runway 14, has an RNAV approach currently.

The new RNAV approach will be implemented for the south-east end of the main runway, Runway 32, to provide guidance for pilots to land in inclement weather conditions. This will reduce the likelihood of pilots having to making a ‘go-around’ to reposition the aircraft for another approach or abandoning a landing at Albany Airport until weather conditions are more suitable.

The new Runway 32 RNAV approach is shown on the following page. It positions aircraft to align with the runway centreline up to 13 nautical miles (24km) from the landing threshold for the pilot to then complete a straight-in approach to land.

An RNAV approach must be aligned with the runway centreline and therefore no alternative locations for this flight path were able to be considered.

Aircraft operations using the new Runway 32 RNAV approach may be audibly and visually noticeable to the overflown communities. Aircraft noise events at ground level between the coastline and the suburb of Milpara are expected to be between 60 and 70 decibels (dBA), which is similar to noise from conversation or a shower.

Aircraft noise events at ground level for locations between Milpara and Runway 32 are likely to be above 70 dBA. An outside noise level of 70 dBA generally equates to an internal noise level of 60 dBA and this is the level at which activities such as conversation and watching television can be disturbed.

In 2021, there was an average of six arrivals per day and up to 14 arrivals on a busy day at Albany Airport. Night-time operations are infrequent, with an average of two arrivals per week between 11pm and 6am.

Airservices Australia is implementing a new instrument approach procedure for aircraft arriving onto Runway 32 at Albany Airport to improve the reliability of aircraft operations in all-weather conditions. This new procedure is scheduled to start on 23 March 2023.

The new procedure is an area navigation approach, referred to as RNAV, which uses on-board global navigation satellite system technology to provide guidance to pilots. At Albany Airport, only the north-west end of the main runway, Runway 14, has an RNAV approach currently.

The new RNAV approach will be implemented for the south-east end of the main runway, Runway 32, to provide guidance for pilots to land in inclement weather conditions. This will reduce the likelihood of pilots having to making a ‘go-around’ to reposition the aircraft for another approach or abandoning a landing at Albany Airport until weather conditions are more suitable.

The new Runway 32 RNAV approach is shown on the following page. It positions aircraft to align with the runway centreline up to 13 nautical miles (24km) from the landing threshold for the pilot to then complete a straight-in approach to land.

An RNAV approach must be aligned with the runway centreline and therefore no alternative locations for this flight path were able to be considered.

Aircraft operations using the new Runway 32 RNAV approach may be audibly and visually noticeable to the overflown communities. Aircraft noise events at ground level between the coastline and the suburb of Milpara are expected to be between 60 and 70 decibels (dBA), which is similar to noise from conversation or a shower.

Aircraft noise events at ground level for locations between Milpara and Runway 32 are likely to be above 70 dBA. An outside noise level of 70 dBA generally equates to an internal noise level of 60 dBA and this is the level at which activities such as conversation and watching television can be disturbed.

In 2021, there was an average of six arrivals per day and up to 14 arrivals on a busy day at Albany Airport. Night-time operations are infrequent, with an average of two arrivals per week between 11pm and 6am.

Consultation has concluded.

Do you have a question about this change? Please enter your query in the form below.

For questions relating to current aircraft operations, please contact our Noise Complaints and Information Service (NCIS) (external link).