Flight paths are highways in the sky. They define three-dimensional routes that aircraft use to arrive at or depart from an airport.
They are developed in accordance with standards established by organisations including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and The Office of Airspace Regulation (OAR) and are carefully formulated to ensure the safe and efficient operation of aircraft.
Find out more about why flight paths change, how our data is determined, just what is a decibel and much more.
So that air traffic controllers can direct pilots to the appropriate runway for take-off or landing, runways are always described using two numbers. Each number represents the orientation of the runway on a compass.
Based on compass orientation, Brisbane Airport’s legacy runway is described as 01/19 (010 degrees magnetic / 190 degrees magnetic).
The new runway is parallel to the existing runway and therefore also carries the numbers 01/19. To distinguish between the two, ‘L’ for left and ‘R’ for right has been added to all directions on both runways.
Therefore, the legacy runway is described as 01R/19L and the new runway is described as 01L/19R.
Any aircraft using 01 will either be arriving over the city or taking off over the bay. Any aircraft using 19 will be either arriving over the bay or taking off over the city.
With the opening of the new runway on Sunday 12 July 2020, Brisbane Airport moved to parallel runway operations. Brisbane Airport has three main modes of operation:
- Simultaneous parallel operations where all flights land over the bay and take off over the city from both runways. This means arrivals and departures on both runways at the same time in a southerly flow of traffic.
- Simultaneous parallel operations where all flights land over the city and take off over the bay from both runways. This means arrivals and departures on both runways at the same time in a northerly flow of traffic.
- Simultaneous opposite direction operations where flights both land and take off over the bay. This is the preferred mode for night time operations.
The decision on mode of operation use is the responsibility of Airservices Australia.
Generally, aircraft departing to or arriving from the west or the north will land and depart on the new runway.
Generally, aircraft departing to or arriving from the south or east will land and depart on the legacy runway.
The decision on mode of operation use is the responsibility of Airservices Australia.
Between 10pm – 6am, the preference is for all overnight arrivals and departures to occur over the bay. This is weather dependent and based on four factors – visibility, cloud cover, wind speed and runway surface conditions.
If over the bay operations are possible, arriving aircraft will land on the new runway and departing aircraft will use the legacy runway. This means that the initial climb and final descent of aircraft will take place over water, rather than residential areas.
If over the bay operations can’t be utilised due to weather conditions, reciprocal operations using either runway will be the next preferred option. This is also weather dependent, with both arriving and departing aircraft using the same or either runway. If over the bay operations are not possible due to weather conditions, a modified version of simultaneous parallel operations based on wind direction will be implemented.
If there are northerly winds, flights will land over the city to the legacy runway and take off over the bay from both runways. If there are southerly winds, flights will land over the bay on both runways and take off over the city from the legacy runway. This maintains consistency with proposed flight paths included in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
When aircraft arrive at Brisbane Airport, they can take one of three different approaches. The approach they take will depend on the navigational aids available on that particular aircraft.
The three approaches are:
- Instrument landing system approach (or ILS approach) – this approach requires aircraft to line up with the centreline of the runway approx. 12 nautical miles (approximately 22 kilometres) from landing. It communicates with two pieces of equipment on the ground: the localiser which provides lateral guidance and the glide slope which provides vertical guidance.
- Short approach (or RNP approach) – this approach uses satellite based technology and equipment in the aircraft to safely navigate the aircraft into landing. This does not require communication with any equipment on the ground.
- Visual approach –this approach is conducted when the weather is fine with no low cloud cover and a pilot is operating the aircraft by visual references. This approach can therefore vary by several kilometres.
The choice of which flight path to use can also be influenced by weather conditions, aircraft separation requirements and the concentration of aircraft arriving or departing at the airport.
For more detailed information on flight paths and aircraft noise, please download the Brisbane Airport Flight Path and Noise Information Booklet.