Sydney ATIS 9/4/09

[Philip Argy]

I'll try to do it succinctly for you, Gerard:

Expect visual approach meaning that Instrument Landing System not required

Runway 34L is in use for all landings and also for all non jet (and jumbo jet) departures to the north west, west and south with runway 16L in use for all other departures - hence the warning about simultaneous OPPOSITE DIRECTION parallel runway operations being in progress.

Approaching peak capacity times, from 08:05 Greenwich Mean Time (6:05 pm Sydney time) aircraft are warned of a changeover so that all arrivals will be from the south onto both 34L and 34R and all departures to the north off the same runways in the same direction.

Wind is an easterly at 5 knots giving a 3 knot tailwind component for aircraft taking off from runway 34L which has an actual heading of about 335 degrees from memory.

Visibility is greater than 10km, there are a few clouds at 3,500 ft and the barometric pressure for altimeter correction is 1022 kilopascals.

I think I've got it pretty right but anyone should feel free to correct me.

[Gerard M]

Thanks for that Philip. Much appreciated and makes sense.
How come they aren't using the other runway,34R at the moment? Wind/weather?

[Philip Argy]

Rwy 07/25 is still undergoing various construction works at its western end I believe, but it would still be used with restrictions and capacity constraints if there is more than about 25 knots of cross wind on the two main runways, after which the majority of aircraft reach their cross wind limit for landings.

[Owen H]

It means that at the moment they are using 34L for turboprop and 747/A380 departures to the North, 34L for arrivals (nothing unusual there), but they are also using 16 L for departures. So you have aircraft arriving on 34L whilst taking off on 16L ... which is known as Simultaneous Opposite Direction Parallel Runway OPS, aka SODPROPS.

This is another one of Sydney's "noise sharing" efforts (and its also slightly more efficient for departures than using 34R). The issue is, however, that the flow rate for arrivals has to decrease as only one runway is used for landing instead of the usual two.

It is used mostly during the day when arrival rates are low, however it is very common for them to persist with it slightly too long, and it ends up meaning aircraft go into holding patterns while they continue with the "low capacity" configuration.

At 0805 they are changing it to the "higher" capacity configuration of departures and arrivals in the one direction, this case 34L and R.

Whilst what Philip says is normally true, the wind is light which is why they can use either 16 or 34, and the "preferred noise" configuration is used (even if it lowers capacity).

[Nigel C]

Philip, regarding the east/west runway, 07 is the only direction that can be used at the moment for departures only for Code C (B737/A320) and below aircraft from Twy Yankee. It won't be available for arrivals in either direction or departures off Rwy 25 until the 15th June.

[Philip Argy]

So if there's a 30-40 knot westerly gusting, what will happen? Will you divert all aircraft elsewhere as if Sydney were fogbound?

[Owen H]

At the moment, yes.

07/25 has been closed for a reasonably long time now, and fortunately we haven't had any days of really strong westerlies or easterlies.

If we do get them, the aircraft will be diverting.

[Philip Argy]

I must say I hadn't been conscious of the RWY 25 closure - as you say, the weather hasn't caused it to come to the attention of those like me who don't receive NOTAMs.

I had assumed that because there was no particular mention in ATIS, it was otherwise available in appropriate wind conditions, so thanks for the heads up.

[Gerard M]

Its now saying this: SYDNEY TERMINAL INFORMATION OSCAR

Approach: EXP VISUAL APCH
Runway: 34L FOR ARRS, RWY 34L FOR NON JET DEPS TO THE
NW, W AND S.
RWY 16L FOR ALL OTHER DEPS


Does this mean that even 747/a330s are using 16L for their departure? Its not too short for a fully loaded heavy?

[Owen H]

No worries... and yes, its been relatively nice weather (only upto about 25kts max) crosswinds for pretty much the whole year so far. I'm sure Nigel C can give more detail, but it has certainly been out since at least November, and I dare say a fair bit longer than that.

Melbourne had interesting issues when the long runway was closed for a few months... all ops on the shorter 27. They did it during times of predicted westerlies, and fortunately the strong northerlies/southerlies stayed away.
Caused havoc for all the longhaul flights, because they couldn't take off at the weights needed, so many tech stops were planned.

I think we'll have more "fun and games" when they close 34L in Sydney ...