Sydney Airport Curfew

[MarkR]

Loved it when the ambos ran a Queen Air in the early hours of the morning out of Sydney!

A general whinge abut the curfew often pops up on various forums, yet is something of a red herring. IMO, as a former authorized delegate of the minister when it came to dispensations, the real issue is the artificial movements cap at Sydney that stops the airport being used at its most productive levels. Sadly, it goes below the radar for many!

[Kent Broadhead]

I absolutely agree that the movements cap becomes more of an issue as time goes on. I'd rather more flights during normal operations to maintain the curfew against heavies taking off over the city in the middle of the night. And am also happy with some flexibility around adverse events.

Interestingly, there are few scheduled heavy passenger or freight departures in the back of beyond hours at non-curfew airports such as Changi and Schiphol. I can't see the point in screwing with quality of life for the city (and a loaded heavy is still loud on departure) for maybe a couple of flights.

[JamesL]

That maybe true Kent, but that is based on their geographic location and the needs of airlines to arrive in certain locations at certain times.

[Kent Broadhead]

Again, true to some extent - less so with Schiphol than Changi, neither of which have departure flight paths over major urban areas.

But I'd want to be pretty bloody certain that there was a strong, sound economic reason for screwing with the sleep of hundreds of thousands of residents for a handful of heavies at the back of the clock.

[JamesL]

Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth all have departures post 2300, I used to live about 15km from YMML with no real complaint. The noise was audible but nothing that you would realise once you were asleep. There are noise abatement procedures in place to reduce the impact on the local communities aswell.

[Kent Broadhead]

At 15km from YSSY from 34L you have already tracked directly across some of the most densely populated parts of Australia, impacting hundreds of thousands of people. It simply doesn't compare.

[Greg McDonald]

Simple...arrive and depart from 34L or 34R (weather permitting) with a wide track to sea. Unless you live on a houseboat in the bay you shouldn't be affected! :-)

[Robert M]

Arrival slots approved between 5-6AM are also flight specific. For example the QF1 is currently approved to arrive before 6, but if it is delayed and QF12 (example) is early, the slot cannot be transferred.

There are also legal ways to depart well after 11PM but that's a whole different (and more complicated) subject.

R