Wild plan to cut down Brisbane plane noise

Brisbane residents fed up with aircraft noise gather at the Brisbane Airport Corporation office protesting for changes to the city’s flight paths.

The radical proposal has been suggested by Elizabeth Watson-Brown, the federal MP for the Brisbane seat of Ryan and the Greens’ spokeswoman on transport, as a solution to the ongoing noise complaints surrounding flight paths around Brisbane Airport.

The Greens are planning to take a proposal to federal parliament calling for a cap of 45 flights per hour at Brisbane Airport, with a curfew of 10pm.

Research suggests the bid would cost the state economy billions of dollars a year in reduced flights and revenue, with legendary Queenslander Johnathan Thurston, who co-owns the regional airline Skytrans, calling the proposal “a disaster”.

Hundreds of residents living beneath flight paths are expected to attend a protest at Brisbane Airport on Saturday, ahead of the Greens’ push to slash flights at the one of the nation’s biggest transport hubs.

In a statement, Ms Watson-Brown said Brisbane Airport management was “refusing to listen” to effective solutions to noise issues which were already in place in Sydney, which operates under a curfew.

“The Greens and the community have been meeting with Brisbane Airport Corporation for months and we have made our demands clear,” she said.

She suggested the concept of diverting Brisbane-bound flights breaching caps or curfews to Toowoomba during a community meeting held by Airservices Australia at the University of Queensland.

Passengers needing to get to or from Brisbane would connect to Wellcamp by high-speed rail.

“The Greens have long advocated for a publicly owned high-speed rail, which could provide a long-term solution to excessive flight noise. Sadly, the Labor government is dragging its heels on delivering high-speed rail,” said Ms Watson-Brown.

She did not elaborate on how the plan would operate, but a transport industry insider described the proposal as “sheer fantasy”.

A spokesperson for Brisbane Airport said Ms Watson-Brown had rejected multiple invitations to meet and discuss the party’s noise concerns.

“Since June 2022, BAC has been trying to secure a meeting with Elizabeth Watson-Brown, in both her capacity as MP for Ryan, and the Green’s national spokesperson on aviation … (but we are) yet to receive a response,” he said.

Mr Beckett also said the only time BAC had heard from the Greens since a one-off meeting with Griffith’s Max Chandler-Mather last year was related to a complaint regarding access to Qantas Valet Parking.

Thurston said any cuts to flight numbers at Brisbane Airport would be “disastrous” for regional communities.

“We want as many flights as possible from our regional areas to the big cities,” he said.

“If we’re cutting flights from those regional areas it’s going to have effects on the regions.

“It would be a disaster.”

The debate comes with hundreds of protesters set to converge on Brisbane Airport on Saturday as part of a push by the Brisbane Flight Path Community Alliance to address noise issues.

Alliance chairman Marcus Foth said airport curfews would not deliver a death sentence to the Queensland economy.

“Our community is not unreasonable – we understand that aviation is key to the economic future of Brisbane, Queensland and Australia,” he said.

“However, we also know some of the world’s busiest airports remain lucrative with curfews and flight caps in place — principally our southern neighbours in Sydney.

“We continue to be ready to work constructively with all levels of government and parties of all colours to address the injustice we’ve had inflicted on us in Brisbane from aircraft noise.”