Program update March 2026

Thank you for your ongoing participation in the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane in 2025. We are pleased to provide this update on our progress and upcoming activity.

We closed out several more actions in the last quarter of 2025. These include:

Recommendation	Description	Status
2.2a) and 3.1n)	Engage with Department of Defence and RAAF Base Amberley: regarding release of airspace to extend the use of Simultaneous Opposite Direction Parallel Runway Operations (SODPROPS) to access airspace to reduce overflight of suburbs to the north-west of the airport	Complete We have workshopped options with RAAF Base Amberley. However, due to national defence requirements that rely on this airspace, no feasible options were identified.
2.2c)	Examine options to amend traffic routes through the Brisbane airspace system to other destinations that may constrain the use of SODPROPS (focus on arrival paths to Sunshine Coast Airport and Gold Coast Airport)	Complete The SODPROPS arrival path over North Stradbroke Island was lowered in November 2024 to separate it from Gold Coast arrivals, removing the constraint this traffic placed on SODPROPS use when Gold Coast Airport is open. After presenting options in 2023, further assessment determined that there would not be sufficient benefit to SODPROPS to justify relocating paths servicing Sunshine Coast Airport.
2.3e)	Examine opportunities to modify weather conditions that constrain the use of SODPROPS (including lowering the cloud ceiling requirement from 2500ft to 2000ft)	Complete We have met with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and completed extensive safety assessments, and have determined that it is not feasible to safely change the cloud ceiling limit for SODPROPS. This is due to the visibility requirements to safely operate this mode in a relatively small piece of airspace. We have continued to facilitate night-time tactical (ad hoc) over-water departures in southerly wind conditions over five knots, at pilot discretion. This has now been formalised as part of Brisbane Airport Corporation’s tailwind data gathering trial; read their announcement here.

The overall completion status of the 82 actions that make up the Noise Action Plan for Brisbane is summarised below:

32 are now fully complete
13 actions were subject to the most recent round of Package 3 engagement (July to August 2025), with a decision expected mid-2026
18 actions remain in progress (two Package 2, one Package 3, and 15 Package 4 actions)
19 actions related to Noise Action Plan governance and general principles. All of these actions have been applied to date.

SODPROPS Update

We released Airservices’ Simultaneous Opposite Direction Parallel Runway Operations (SODPROPS) Plan in June 2024, which focussed on actions to extend the use of SODPROPS at Brisbane Airport. We have reviewed our progress against this plan, along with the Ministerial Direction issued in September 2024, and have produced an update. This also includes data on the use of SODPROPS across 2025. Download the SODPROPS Plan – 2026 update (2MB PDF).

Upcoming focus

We are working to complete our formal assessment of the proposals put forward in July-August last year (Phase 6 of the program) and to close out the remaining Package 2 and 3 actions. We will share outcomes with the community mid-2026.

Our consultants, Trax International, are progressing investigation of Package 4 actions, and we will share the outcomes with the community in the second half of this year.