Ballina Airport - Introduction of controlled airspace

Thank you to all community members who have engaged with us and provided feedback on the preliminary flight paths. The flight paths are now being refined and an environmental assessment completed for the updated (preferred) design.

We currently plan to commence community engagement on the preferred design in November 2024. We will release details of engagement sessions two weeks ahead of these sessions commencing.

A summary of feedback received during preliminary design engagement will also be published, including our response to community and other stakeholder feedback and how this has been considered in developing the preferred design.

To stay informed and receive information on community information sessions, please subscribe to e-mail updates at the top right of this page.

As a result of community feedback, we have created a zoomable version of the flight path comparison map in Page 11 of our New Flight Paths factsheet. This map shows the nine proposed flight paths overlaid with actual arrival and departure tracks flown in October to December 2023 for comparison. This map is available under the Zoomable Maps tab.

A reminder that feedback on the preliminary flight path design is open until Sunday 8 September 2024. Please use the Submit Feedback button to let us know if you support or do not support the proposed flight paths.

We are pleased to share the preliminary flight path design for the proposed changes to support Ballina Byron Gateway Airport moving to controlled airspace operation in 2025. These are now open for community review and feedback. You can read about the proposed changes in the following documents:

• Project overview
• New flight paths

You can also use our zoomable map tool using the tabs above to search your address or view a location in relation to the proposed new flight paths.

Please submit your feedback on the flight paths on our feedback page. You can provide feedback on as many of the proposed new flight paths as you wish.

We have also published our Options Development Methodology and Assessment Criteria that explains the factors considered in developing the proposed flight paths and the criteria we will use to assess them.

Additionally, we have updated the Initial Community Engagement Plan (CEP) published in June to incorporate feedback received, adding more engagement channels and outlining pre-implementation communications in 2025. The Final CEP outlines our proposed engagement through to implementation of the proposed changes.

Feedback on the preliminary flight path design closes on Sunday 8 September 2024.

A reminder that registrations for our community engagement sessions (5 to 15 August 2024) are open. We look forward to seeing you at a session and to receiving your feedback.

We are pleased to provide the dates, times and locations of our preliminary flight path design community engagement sessions. We will be hosting six community drop-in sessions at the following locations:

Come by anytime within the 3 hour time period to view preliminary design information and speak to Airservices staff. If you are not able to attend an in-person session, we will be hosting an online session on Thursday 15 August 2024, from 7pm-8.30pm (a meeting link will be sent to all registrants). Register to attend any of the sessions here.

Flight path design information will be available on this page early next week. To stay updated and receive alerts of the release of new information, please subscribe using the Stay Informed tool on the top right of this page (if you are viewing on a mobile device you may need to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Subscribe button).

We will commence community engagement on the preliminary flight path design for Ballina Airport the week commencing 22 July 2024. We will release details of engagement sessions where you can meet with Airservices representatives two weeks ahead of these sessions commencing. To stay informed and receive information on community information sessions, please subscribe to e-mail updates at the top right of this page.

A reminder that feedback on our Initial Community Engagement Plan is requested by 2 July 2024. We thank everyone who has provided feedback date and we will provide an update on any changes made to our plan following review of all feedback.

We are pleased to announce that community engagement to support Ballina Airport’s move to controlled airspace has commenced.

In keeping with Airservices’ Community Engagement Standard we are providing the Initial Community Engagement Plan for a four-week community review and feedback period. We are particularly interested to receive feedback on the engagement methods we are proposing, including the proposed channels we will use to generate awareness of this change and the methods to enable discussion and feedback from the community.

Please provide your feedback by 2 July 2024 using the ‘Feedback/ Ask a Question’ tab on the right. Following initial feedback, the Community Engagement Plan (CEP) will be refined and we will release the preliminary flight path design and commence community engagement sessions as outlined in the CEP.