Western Sydney International Airport flight paths outrage residents who anticipate sleepless nights

Residents have criticized Western Sydney International Airport’s long-awaited flight paths, labeling them as ‘hell on earth’.

The $5.3 billion airport in Badgerys Creek, 28 miles from the CBD, will be the first in NSW to have no curfew, with flights departing and landing 24 hours a day, seven days a week when the facility opens in 2026. opened.

The federal government released the airport’s preliminary flight plans on Tuesday.

It showed that Greendale, Luddenham, Twin Creeks, Penrith, Blacktown, Mount Druitt, Prospect Reservoir, Windsor, Orchard Hills will be worst affected by the noise.

Marie Sitter, who lives in Blaxland in the Blue Mountains, is very concerned about the late-night commotion.

She said ABC it would become ‘hell on earth’ and that the planes would disturb the peace in her area.

At night it is absolutely quiet. The only noise we have at night is the occasional coal train,” she said.

“It’s just quiet, and you can’t imagine having planes that many times a day.”

Some flight paths to Brisbane or Cairns will fly along the Great Western Highway, north of the main residential areas of the Blue Mountains.

While flights bound for Queensland will depart from the southwest side of the airport and are expected to turn right around Silverdale before flying directly over the Blue Mountains area.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill said he was concerned about noise pollution for residents and the potential impact of an airport on the World Heritage-listed area.

“The flight paths show a complete disregard for the people of the Blue Mountains and the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area,” Greenhill told 9News.

“Our quality of life in the Blue Mountains is clearly under threat. The people of the Blue Mountains deserve better.

Social media was flooded with complaints from Western Sydney residents who said it was atypical that it would be the Western Suburbs that would experience hour-long aircraft noise.

“Of course West Sydney gets a treat from an airport with no curfew,” one person wrote.

‘Pity these poor bastards in western Sydney. These are the people who have had the most difficulty buying a home. Now their homes will be worthless with 70 dB of noise 24/7 from the unnecessary airport,” added another.

Seventy dB refers to the sound level and is known to cause possible hearing damage.

“The second airport open 24/7 is just a mess for residents of Western Sydney. People buy houses near the first airport, knowing that there is noise pollution. People bought out the West to escape it. However, I can’t possibly upset the rich… Shame,” said a third social media user.

Adam Leto, CEO of Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue, acknowledged there would be teething problems, but said the future opportunities for residents will make it worthwhile.

“I think Western Sydney Airport has been very deliberately designed and planned to minimize inconvenience to residents,” he said.

“There will be a small handful of residents that will experience some noise disturbance, but I think it will only be minimal and it will only affect a handful of residents.”

“If our World Heritage List is withdrawn because aircraft noise negatively affects the World Heritage values ​​of the Blue Mountains, then the four million tourists who come to the Blue Mountains every year will evaporate – and with it the jobs they create.”

Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King said the airport will keep flights over residential areas to a minimum at night, but explained that the airport would always operate without a curfew.

“My department will be running community information and feedback sessions in the coming months, as well as community information booths in western Sydney and the Blue Mountains,” King said in a statement.

“The preliminary flight paths were developed according to Airspace Design Principles that reflect community feedback.”

Flights between 11pm and 5:30am usually depart and land from the southwest of the airport to reduce noise pollution for the densely populated communities of western Sydney.

“These principles include minimizing flights over residential areas and reducing the community impact of aircraft operations at night,” Ms King added.

“The Albanian government is committed to balancing the needs of the community, the environment, industry and users of the wider Greater Sydney airspace, while ensuring safety remains a priority in the design of WSI’s flight paths.”

Residents can use an online Aircraft Overflying Sound Tool to get a picture of the provisional flight paths and how their home will be disturbed by the noise.

The interactive tool allows a user to type their address to see the expected height of aircraft, the daily number of aircraft and the predicted noise at the requested location.

Homes in Erskine Park are also among the hardest hit areas with between 20 and 49 flights expected to take place over the area in 2033.

In the region, noise levels are expected to exceed 70 decibels – a level that stops conversation indoors when all windows are closed and can cause hearing damage.

The benchmark for nighttime noise is 60 decibels – a level at which sleep would be disturbed.

Although the noise tool shows that Blaxland is outside the 60 decibel contour, residents would still hear planes flying overhead with a noise level of about 60 decibels.

Closer to the airport, when the prevailing wind means the planes will take off to the southwest, residents of Greendale would experience 10 to 19 flights per night exceeding 60 decibels.

Wind conditions will ultimately determine which of the two main runway directions – known as runway 05 and runway 23 – will be used during the day and at night.

When runway 05 is used, all aircraft will arrive from the southwest and depart to the northeast, while runway 23 will see all aircraft arriving from the northeast and departing to the southwest.

When runway 23 is used, residents around Greendale are most affected, and are expected to experience 20 to 49 flights of over 70 decibels over 24 hours.

The airport will initially have a capacity of up to 10 million passengers and approximately 81,000 flight movements per year by 2033.

Earlier this month, Qantas and Jetstar became the first airlines to sign a deal with the airport.