Airservices has completed community and industry engagement on the additional work requested by our CEO for the Noise Abatement Procedure (NAP) Trial. This involved operational safety assessment, including exclusions and exemptions to its use, and the criteria against which the NAP trial success or otherwise will be measured. The assessment found no reason that we should not proceed with the NAP trial, in accordance with the original recommendation from August 2023.
The completion of this additional work was necessary to confirm if any safety risks posed by this change in operations can be mitigated. It also provided the opportunity to further explain when aircraft are not required to apply the NAP and to share our proposed approach to monitoring and measuring the trial’s success.
The NAP trial will commence on 13 June 2024 and will be in effect for a period of 6 months.
Over this period, arriving aircraft to runway 30 will use the RNAV approach (also known as the long approach) between the hours of 2pm and 8am, unless they are exempt for specific reasons. Details on the conditions for exemptions are available here.
Feedback from the community and industry gathered throughout the trial period will inform our assessment of the trial. Members of the public are encouraged to submit feedback via the Have Your Say tab on this page.
We are also currently installing noise monitors in key locations identified by our specialist aircraft noise monitoring consultants to record noise levels throughout the trial. These have been placed at:
- Primrose Sands – to monitor arrivals to runway 30 on the RNP-AR/visual arrival route (short approach)
- Connelly’s Marsh – to monitor arrivals to runway 30 on the RNAV arrival route (long approach) and jet departures from runway 12.
We are also seeking to deploy a noise monitor in the vicinity of Dunalley to monitor overflight in this location. We invite members of the community to contact us at communityengagement@airservicesaustralia.com if you are interested in hosting a noise monitor (noting the location selected will need to meet the required noise monitoring criteria).
Hobart Airport runway works
We have recently become aware that Hobart Airport is planning to commence upgrade works to the runway. We do not expect these works to impact the trial however we are currently working with the airport to understand any changes to existing operations and will provide updates as we learn more.
We have now completed additional detailed operational safety work to more fully understand any risk associated with the proposed NAP trial engaged on in 2023, as well as looking at exclusions and exemptions to its use, and the criteria against which its success or otherwise could be measured.
We have finalised this assessment, which has confirmed that the NAP trial can be safely implemented with appropriate controls, exclusions and exemptions.
With these safety elements now confirmed, the NAP trial will be implemented for a period of 6 months commencing in mid-June 2024.
The proposed NAP would operate between 2pm and 8am, with all arrivals to runway 30 using the RNAV (longer approach) during these hours, excluding valid exemptions.
Further details can be viewed here.
Members of the community are welcome to discuss the details of the NAP trial with our staff at next week’s community sessions. Dates, times and venues are listed in the previous update on this page.
Following the review of our NAP trial assessment decision, we have completed the additional work we committed to, including operational safety assessment, identifying exclusions and exemptions to NAP use and also the criteria to measure success.
After the school holidays we will be hosting a series of community sessions at Dodges Ferry, Dunalley and Primrose Sands. These will be drop-in style sessions where community members can have one-on-one conversations with Airservices staff to further understand the outcomes of this work.
MONDAY 29 APRIL, FROM 4.30PM TO 7.30PM
DODGES FERRY
Okines Community House, 540 Old Forcett Road, Dodges Ferry
TUESDAY 30 APRIL, FROM 4.30PM TO 7.30PM
PRIMROSE SANDS
Primrose Sands Community Centre, 570 Primrose Sands Road, Primrose Sands
WEDNESDAY 1 MAY, FROM 4.30PM TO 7.30PM
DUNALLEY
Dunalley Community Hall, 5 Franklin Street, Dunalley
Anyone who is unable to attend the in-person sessions is welcome to register to attend an online session, which will involve a short presentation followed by questions.
SATURDAY 4 MAY, FROM 3.30PM TO 5.00PM - Click here to register
Information on the outcomes of this additional work will be shared on this page approximately one week prior to the first community information session.
We acknowledge this is in the school holiday period and we do not expect any immediate response from the community.
Our four week engagement period will commence after the completion of the holidays.
In August we published our decision to not proceed with the proposed Noise Abatement Procedure (NAP) trial for Runway 30 at Hobart Airport. The Aircraft Noise Ombudsman (ANO) reviewed this decision and has since requested that Airservices Australia reconsider this outcome.
Airservices’ Chief Executive Officer completed a review of the decision, and he has requested that further work be completed to determine if the NAP trial should be implemented.
This work includes:
• additional engagement with community and industry on the operational requirements and exemptions to the NAP, along with the success criteria that would be applied to the NAP trial, should it be implemented
• assessment of the safety and operational factors to be considered should a NAP trial be implemented, including determining if the risks are acceptable following applicable mitigations.
The safety assessment work will be undertaken in parallel to industry engagement. We will then engage with the community on the outcomes.
We anticipate engaging with the Hobart community in early 2024.
Work is currently underway on the recommended actions in Package 2. We expect to commence engagement with the Hobart community on these proposals at the same time as the above.
Assessment of the proposed Noise Abatement Procedure (NAP) trial has now been completed and the decision has been made not to proceed with the trial.
Feedback from the community was almost evenly divided between those who supported a trial and those who did not. To further assess the merit of the trial, we undertook a detailed assessment of each option using our Flight Path Design Principles, which having first given regard to safety, require a careful balance of operational efficiency, protecting the environment and minimising the effects of aviation noise on the community.
The outcome of this assessment concluded that implementation of the NAP trial rated slightly higher than to not proceed with the trial. Given diverting all air traffic during the NAP period to the longer approach would result in a considerable amount of additional CO2 emissions, a higher degree of community benefit and community support for the change is required to justify its implementation.
We understand that this decision will come as a disappointment to some members of the community, however changes to air traffic control operational procedures are complex and require a compelling case to do so.
The details of the Noise Abatement Procedure Trial assessment are available here.
We propose to host community information sessions to discuss the outcomes of the NAP trial assessment. These will take place in the areas of Dodges Ferry, Primrose Sands and Dunalley in the coming weeks. The dates, times and venues for these sessions will be advised on this page and will be advertised locally. You are encouraged to subscribe to receive updates.
Further work is currently being undertaken on recommended actions 4 and 6-10 of the Hobart Airspace Review Post Implementation Review. Updates on this work will be published on this page as the work progresses together with the opportunity to provide feedback.
We have been undertaking a thorough assessment of the proposed Noise Abatement Procedure Trial, giving careful consideration to each of our Flight Path Design Principles. We have completed the assessment and will be releasing a decision shortly.
We understand that the community are keen to see a resolution of this issue and we thank you for your patience.
Thank you for your patience regarding the outcome of the Noise Abatement Procedure trial. We are currently finalising our analysis using our Flight Path Design Principles. Our primary focus is on safety, however we are also considering noise impacts, locations of community facilities and other noise sensitive sites, efficiency, environmental and operational elements. We expect to have a resolution on this issue by 30 June 2023 and will update this page with the outcome. We will be looking to engage with the community on this topic through face to face discussions. Locations and dates will be advised shortly.
Given the even split in community response to this proposal, it is extremely important that Airservices is able to demonstrate a sound assessment process behind any decision we make. As such, this is taking more time than we had anticipated. We recognise the community will want to see the detail of our assessment and are in the process of documenting this so it is clear on what basis we have formed our views.
We are continuing to work through further assessment of the proposed Noise Abatement Procedure trial.
Given the lack of a clear community preference, we need to ensure any decision we make is backed by sufficient assessment and evidence. We are reviewing current aircraft movement data, our earlier assessment, and information we have shared with the community. We will provide a further update as soon as possible.
We apologize for the delay in providing an outcome to this recommendation from the Hobart Airspace Design Post Implementation Review (PIR) and thank you for your understanding.
Airservices invited feedback from the public on the proposal for a Noise Abatement Procedure (NAP) trial in relation to arriving aircraft to Runway 30 at Hobart Airport. Between November and December 2022 we requested community feedback on different options for the trial, including the option to do nothing.
We have reviewed the feedback received through our survey and have not been able to identify a clear community preference in relation to the implementation of the NAP trial, with just over 50 per cent of respondents noting support for the trial at one time or another and just under 50 per cent noting they did not support a trial at any time. The graph below shows a breakdown of responses against each of the options presented. A total of 91 people responded to the survey.
As a result, we are currently conducting further assessment to determine next steps. This includes further analysis of benefits and impacts, as well as engaging with industry and other stakeholders. We anticipate being able to provide a further update in the next two to three weeks.
We apologise for the delay in providing an outcome to this recommendation from the Hobart Airspace Design Post Implementation Review (PIR).
Thank you again to all those who completed the Noise Abatement Procedure (NAP) survey.
With the array of feedback we received through the survey, we are now assessing the safety and operational viability of each of the options suggested.
We expect to update the community on the outcome of the survey and the next steps by 31 March 2023.
Subscribe to this page to stay up to date as this project progresses.
Noise levels associated with the movement of an A320 aircraft on the RNAV approach to RWY 30
Noise levels associated with the movement of a B712 aircraft on the RNAV approach to RWY 30
Noise levels associated with the movement of a B738 aircraft on the RNAV approach to RWY 30
Noise levels associated with the movement of an A320 aircraft on the RNP-AR approach to RWY 30
Noise levels associated with the movement of a B712 aircraft on the RNP-AR approach to RWY 30
Noise levels associated with the movement of a B738 aircraft on the RNP-AR approach to RWY 30