Ballina Airport - Introduction of controlled airspace

We are pleased to share the final flight path design to support Ballina Byron Gateway Airport’s transition to controlled airspace. The final flight paths were determined following the second round of community engagement (11 November to 22 December 2024), with the preferred flight paths retained as the final design. Please see here for a summary of the final design outcome. We have also published a Preferred Design Feedback Summary and Assessment Report outlining the feedback received from the second round of engagement and our responses.

To see how community input shaped the final design, view the Community Engagement and Final Outcome Report, which also summarises all engagement activities since the project began.

New departure flight paths at Lismore Airport

As a result of industry feedback, new departure procedures will also be introduced at Lismore Airport from 11 June 2026 to enable suitably equipped aircraft to depart during inclement weather while staying clear of the new Ballina controlled airspace. We have assessed the potential impact of this change, but do not expect it to be noticeable to the community due to existing aircraft movements in this area and the limited expected use.

Further details are in Section 4.7.1 of the Final Outcome Report and in our environmental assessment.

Implementation

Controlled airspace around Ballina Airport will take effect on 11 June 2026. Air traffic control services will operate daily from 7am to 8pm local time. Closer to implementation, we will share details on how you can provide feedback on aircraft operations.

Once the changes take place, you will still notice some flights not following the new SIDs and STARs because:

• some aircraft, such as training and recreational flights, do not use published arrival and departure flight paths and will continue to operate as they do now
• in clear weather, some commercial aircraft may arrive or depart using visual procedures, where pilots navigate using landmarks rather than on published flight paths
• at times, aircraft may depart in directions not covered by the new departure paths, either under air traffic control instructions or for traffic management reasons
• aircraft may be taken off the published flight paths from time to time to avoid bad weather or to maintain safe separation from other aircraft.

Noise monitoring

Prior to the implementation of the new flight paths, we will install noise monitors to record current noise levels and gather data on the new operations.

Further information on noise monitoring, including the opportunity to suggest noise monitoring sites, will be released in coming months.

Feedback or enquiries

If you have feedback/ enquiries on the final flight path design or our reports, please email us at communityengagement@airservicesaustralia.com. Feedback on our reports is welcome up to 10 September 2025.

Following approval from our regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), we have revised the timing of the implementation of controlled airspace to 11 June 2026, originally slated for November 2025.

We will release the final flight path design, including the outcomes of community engagement, in the coming weeks.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has released an update on the preferred controlled airspace design for Ballina Airport following their engagement with aviation industry stakeholders last year, which occurred at the same time as our community engagement on the preferred flight paths. You can view CASA’s update here: https://consultation.casa.gov.au/stakeholder-engagement-group/ballina-preferred-airspace-design/.

We are currently completing work to finalise the flight path design, including assessing feedback received from the community. Updates will be provided on this page once this work is complete.

The feedback period on the preferred flight path design is now closed. We would like to thank all community members who engaged with us. After an assessment period in the new year, we will share the final design and information on how community and industry feedback have influenced this.

We are pleased to advise that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which we referred to the Minister for Environment for advice in accordance with Sections 28 and 160 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act), has been reviewed and we are advised the no advice is necessary. This means we are able to continue on our engagement with the community on this proposed change based on the findings of the EIA which you can read here.

A reminder engagement is open on the preferred flight path design till 22 December 2024. Please register for one of our community engagement sessions or submit your feedback on the flight paths using the tabs above.

We are pleased to share the preferred flight path design to support Ballina Byron Gateway Airport moving to controlled airspace in 2025. These are now open for community review and feedback. You can review the design here. You can also use our zoomable map tool in the tab above to search your address or view a location in relation to the flight paths. You can also view an assessment of noise levels, frequency of use and aircraft altitude information here.

These flight paths have been refined following community and industry feedback received during engagement on the preliminary flight path design from July to September 2024. We have published a feedback summary and assessment document summarising the feedback received and our responses.

For a more detailed assessment of the proposed changes, you can view the Environmental impact assessment (EIA).

The EIA explains existing airport operations and assesses the impact of the proposed flight path and airspace changes as a whole against a range of environmental factors, including noise, emissions and biodiversity. The EIA identified the need to refer the change for advice from the Commonwealth Minister of Environment (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) in accordance with Sections 28 and 160 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act). This has been actioned.

Please note, the information provided on forecast aircraft movement numbers during preliminary design engagement included circuit training arrival and departure operations and other general aviation movements. During the more detailed review of the Preferred Design, these movements have been excluded as they will not fly on the proposed new flight paths (other than initial departure and final arrival segments). Thus, the number of movements forecast for each flight path will generally be lower than previously communicated.

You can submit your feedback on the preferred flight path design via our Submit Feedback page. You can provide feedback on as many of the flight paths as you wish.

Feedback on the preferred flight path design closes on Sunday 22 December 2024. Feedback will be considered in determining the final flight paths for implementation next year.

A reminder that registrations for our community engagement sessions (19 to 28 November) are open. We look forward to seeing you at a session and to receiving your feedback.

We are pleased to announce details of our upcoming in-person community drop-in sessions and online webinars to discuss the preferred flight path design. For the drop-in sessions, come by anytime within the times listed to view flight path information and speak to Airservices staff.

The webinars will include an Airservices presentation and a Question & Answer session at the end.

Register to attend any of the sessions here. In response to community feedback received in the previous round of engagement, we have simplified our registration process and you will not need to create an account to register.

Flight path design information and the environmental impact assessment will be available on this page next week. To receive email alerts of the release of new information, please subscribe using the Stay Informed tool on the top right of this page (if you are on a mobile device you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the page).

Some community members may have received a letterbox flyer on the next phase of our engagement (the preferred flight path design).

This information was planned for release next week, but unfortunately Australia Post have delivered it to some areas a week early.

Please check back on this site next week or you can register to receive updates to be alerted when further information is available. Register at the 'Stay Informed' section at the top right of this page (or scroll down to see this if using a mobile device).

We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and look forward to engaging with you soon.

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 'Stay Informed' section at the top right of this page (you will need to scroll down to see this if using a mobile device).

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.