Brisbane Airport has announced a projected opening date of July 2020 for its new runway and residents in Ascot and other suburbs are wondering how (and if) aircraft noise from the projected runway traffic will affect their suburb.
The new runway, which has taken eight years to build due to the need to pile sand onto the river delta, will seemingly double the capacity of the present airport, bringing it closer to the capacity of those in Melbourne and Sydney.
Coming in under its $1.3 billion budget by around $200 million, the runway will be able to accommodate widebody aircraft, with its 3,300-metre length. The current short second runway which is exclusively for smaller aircraft.

“It’s surreal to think we are just months away from seeing the first aircraft land and depart on this infrastructure masterpiece,” said Brisbane Airport Chief Gert-Jan de Graaff.
New Runway Noise
Based on Brisbane’s new runway flight path tool, Ascot does not directly fall under a flight path. However, it should be noted that since flight paths do not precisely follow a single line and can be more accurately called flight path ‘swathes,’ the flight path can vary up to several kilometres. So it is highly possible that aircraft will fly over the suburb.
Through the flight path tool, users can also get an overview of the noise level that the suburb will experience. The following is a comparison of the noise level with the existing runway versus noise level when the new runway is in use, with the green pin placed on Ascot.

Photo Credit: flightpathtool.bne.com.au

Photo Credit: flightpathtool.bne.com.au
The flight path tool indicates that aircraft flying near Ascot are likely to be at an altitude where the aircraft noise level will be less than 70 decibels. According to Australian standards, a noise level of 70 decibels is likely to interfere with people speaking indoors (with the windows open).
Since Ascot is only a few kilometres from an arrival flight path, it will experience noise from 36 average flights and a maximum of 74 flights.

Photo Credit: flightpathtool.bne.com.au
Effect on Real Estate Values
A study commissioned by Brisbane Airport Corporation and conducted by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) explored the impact of aircraft noise on Brisbane residential properties.
Analysing 25 years of data, the QUT research highlighted that: “housing and units in Brisbane located under designated flight paths have their value and price determined by a range of factors and these factors are not detrimentally impacted by aircraft noise.”
“The location of a property under a flight path will have minimal if any impact on the price, saleability, investment performance and capital growth of that property,” the study concluded.
Reporting Noise Issues
Meanwhile, the Australian aviation industry assured they will help identify issues of concern and possible opportunities for improvements through Noise Complaints and Information Service (NCIS).
The service will be managed by Airservices Australia, who will be responsible for Australia’s airspace management, flight paths, providing noise information and managing complaints.
For any questions or concerns about current aircraft activity, lodge a complaint or make an enquiry:
