Nearly 100 more air traffic movements a day could be extracted from Perth Airport’s current runway configuration by reducing arrival separation and reducing runway occupancy time, a study on the airport’s airspace issues by UK air navigation service provider NATS has found.
Airservices commissioned the study on capacity at Perth Airport as mounting congestion and delays frustrate airlines and consumers alike. Significantly, the report identifies that there is not a joined-up approach to airfield master planning and future airspace development.
“There is an opportunity for Airservices and Perth Airport to work together to establish a robust concept of operations that incorporates both airfield and airspace to support future infrastructure change programs,” a key finding of the report said.
The report did not assess terminal and taxiway capacity.
Airservices intends to use the recommendations to work collaboratively with the airport operator Perth Airport Pty Ltd and airlines to realise improvements over the next two years as part of its airport capacity enhancement program.
Read more about Airservices’ work to improve airport and airspace capacity in the upcoming December issue of Australian Aviation.
