Hobart Community and Industry Suggested Alternatives

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.

Thank you to all those who completed the Noise Abatement Procedure survey.

The survey has now closed, and we anticipate that we will be able to share the recommended outcome of the proposed NAPs trial with the community in early 2023.

We wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and look forward to continued engagement in the new year.

Community Engagement Team

We have received valuable feedback through the NAPs survey. There has been a lot of interest, so the survey will remain open until 11 December to ensure that all interested residents have an opportunity to put their preferences forward. Click here to complete the survey.

The community consultation session scheduled for Saturday 26 November 2022 (from 10am to 3pm) has been moved to the Primrose Sands Community Centre at 570 Primrose Sands Road, Primrose Sands.

We apologise for the late change and any inconvenience caused, and we hope to see you on Saturday.