CASA's Office of Airspace Regulation yesterday published a new airspace design for Ballina-Byron that proposes Class C airspace over the airport from 4500-8500 feet.
The proposal comes as both CASA and Airservices Australia prepared for Ballina-Byron Gateway to become a Class D towered airport from November next year.
Originally, the airspace design envisaged the Class D airspace would extend from the surface right through to 8500 feet.
According to CASA, the alternative architecture was presented to them by Airservices.
"We have been engaging with industry about the introduction of controlled airspace around Ballina in collaboration with Airservices Australia," CASA says. "This included early discussion about the potential for a Class D CTR and surrounding control area CTA from the surface to 8500 ft.
"After further consideration, the airspace concept has been refined and Airservices has asked CASA to consider an alternative airspace classification.
"Airservices has proposed Class C airspace between 4500 ft and 8500 ft ...
"The most notable differences between Class C and Class D are the provision of an IFR and VFR separation service, that all aircraft are required to be fitted with surveillance equipment, and radio calls by VFR are not shortened."
According to the Airservices proposal, having Class C above 4500 feet would:
- improve safety for both VFR and IFR
- align with the existing Class C steps at Gold CoastÂ
- support OCTA transits and access to Lismore
- reduce frequency congestion.
"The proposed changes are expected to provide a positive impact to the region by improving the level of safety for operations in the airspace," CASA says.
"CASA has not identified any environmental impacts resulting from the architectural changes to airspace design."
OAR conducted the review of the Ballina-Lismore-Casino airspace in 2022 after an increase in aircraft movements since 2017 was noted and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau recorded 41 safety occurrences from 1 July 2020 to 31 July 2021.
One of the key recommendations of the review was converting the Ballina-Byron CTAF to a Class D tower initially by November 2023. That date was then pushed out to 27 November 2025.
Consultation on the proposal is open until 6 June via the CASA Consultation Hub.