A significant amount of current Class G airspace in the Sydney Basin stands to be converted to Class D if the airspace design proposal triggered by Western Sydney Airport (YSWS) is implemented as written.
The Airservices Australia Industry Briefing Paper–made public earlier this month–will also see new VFR routes into and out of Bankstown, an expanded BK CTR, and a transponder and flight plan requirement for Class D, which is being termed Class D+.
"The introduction of the YSWS airspace and flight paths into the current airspace structure in the Sydney Basin would significantly impact the airspace risk profile," the paper states.
"To safely manage these changes to flight paths, a change of airspace classification to Class D, with a flight planning and a transponder requirement, is proposed to an airspace volume in close proximity to YSWS, YSBK, YSCN and YWST [Westmead Hospital HLS].
"The proposal also includes an increase in the lateral dimensions of the YSBK control zone (CTR)."
The Class D volume extends from the new lateral limits of the BK CTR to the north at Cheltenham, then west to Wanamatta and the Sydney White Water Course before turning south to Mulgoa.
It will remain outside the YSWS CTR before extending from Bringelly to Leumah, then up along the western boundary of Holsworthy to join the new Bankstown CTR near Glenfield.
New VFR routes have been proposed for transiting the Class D to Bankstown CTR. VFR aircraft operating to the west and north-west of BK would operate on new routes that remain clear of YSWS operations.
VFR routes for western departures follow the current northern departure route before turning west to track north of the Great Western Highway.
Aircraft arriving from the west will track inbound to YSBK south of the Great Western Highway and north of the M4 to join other arriving aircraft at Prospect Reservoir.
Airservices also acknowledges the impact of the new airspace design on existing general aviation airports in Sydney.
"The implementation of controlled airspace to manage YSWS operations will have a significant impact on operations to and from other local aerodromes, such as YSBK and YSCN.
"Both aerodromes are home to flight training organisations, emergency services operators, charter companies and other General Aviation (GA) operators.
"In FY23, together they accounted for 323,000 movements or 885 aircraft movements per day."
Western Sydney (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport is currently under construction at Badgerys Creek, placing it in what is currently the training area for both Bankstown and Camden airports.
Selected stakeholders were given a confidential briefing on the new airspace design on 31 August, but were sworn to secrecy by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
However, some stakeholders such as Aeria Management, operator of both Bankstown and Camden, feared that the new airspace design would increase costs for flying schools through increased flight times and extended training schedules.
IFR pilots are also to be impacted with changes to the instrument flight procedures (IFP) to accommodate YSWS operations.
"The current IFP for YSBK are incompatible with YSWS airspace and flight paths from the perspectives of both safety and efficiency," the paper recognises.
"With the introduction of controlled airspace at YSWS, the existing instrument approaches to YSBK would no longer be contained within a single class of airspace as required by the CASA Manual of Standards (MOS) Part 173 – Instrument flight procedure design.
"In order to comply with MOS Part 173, new and amended IFP routes have been developed for use by aircraft arriving and departing both YSCN and YSBK."
The design proposal overlaps IFR and VFR approaches, which Airservices says will need further work and additional safety controls to be implemented.
The full Industry Briefing Paper is available on the link below.