CASA and Airservices Australia will begin consultation next month on a proposal to create two new south-east VFR lanes for Bankstown Airport.
Currently, Bankstown has VFR lanes to the north via Prospect Reservoir/Brooklyn Bridge and Parramatta/Hornsby, and one to the west via 2RN. The proposal would create two more lanes in the Engadine/Sutherland directions.
The intention of the new lanes is to relieve traffic congestion to the north-west of Bankstown and link the airport with new training areas.
"CASA, in conjunction with Airservices Australia, is proposing to reclassify a portion of airspace southeast of Bankstown Airport to uncontrolled airspace and create a southeast corridor that can be used by all aircraft flying under VFR, up to 1500ft," an Airservices briefing paper states.
"Aircraft would have the option to use the southeast VFR corridor for travel to and from Bankstown Airport, or for other aviation purposes, provided they maintain an altitude below 1500ft.
"Above 1500 ft the airspace becomes controlled airspace, which requires clearance from Sydney Air Traffic Control (Sydney ATC). Due to the narrow size of the corridor, this will include publishing an inbound and outbound VFR route within the corridor."
The exact path of the lanes has yet to be revealed, but Airservices GA briefing on the proposed changes caused by Western Sydney Airport envisages a lane running from Choppers South, around Holsworthy and Lucas Heights to the water tanks at Engadine.
The same document shows a new training area to the south of Sydney, which the proposed new lanes would link to Bankstown Airport.
Airservices has already started consultation with the general community including local, state and federal governments, and aboriginal land councils.
CASA's Office of Airspace Regulation (OAR) will open consultation on 15 August, running through to 12 September.