GUIDELINES FOR THE GRANTING OF DISPENSATIONS FOR AIRCRAFT TO USE SYDNEY AIRPORT DURING CURFEW HOURS IN EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Preamble

1. The Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995 (the Act) has the purpose of limiting, as far as possible, the movement of aircraft at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (the Airport) during the curfew period. The curfew period is from 11.00 pm each night to 6.00 am the next morning.

2. Section 18 of the Act permits aircraft that are involved in emergencies or which have been granted dispensations to land at or take-off from the Airport during the curfew period.

3. Section 19 of the Act specifies the circumstances which constitute an emergency. These include circumstances in which:

. the aircraft is being used for or in connection with search and rescue, medical emergency or natural disaster;

. the pilot of the aircraft has declared an in-flight emergency;

. the aircraft has insufficient fuel to be diverted to another airport; or

. there is some other urgent need for the aircraft to land or take off.

In these circumstances operations may take place without the issue of a dispensation.

Typical examples of circumstances covered by this section of the Act and therefore not requiring issue of a dispensation would include

. the taking-off and/or landing of an air ambulance in relation to the retrieval and transfer to Sydney of a critically ill patient at a rural hospital;

. the landing of a passenger aircraft where urgent medical treatment is required for a passenger who has suffered a heart attack;

. the landing of an aircraft where a serious operational problem (eg engine malfunction) has occurred;

. the landing of an aircraft where there is an on-board security incident (eg a violent passenger is endangering the safety of a flight).

4. Section 20 of the Act provides that the Minister may grant a dispensation authorising a take-off or landing which would otherwise breach the curfew where the Minister is satisfied that exceptional circumstances justify the take-off or landing. Subsection 20(5) requires the Minister to make written guidelines about the granting of dispensations.

General Principle

5. In administering these Guidelines a key consideration will be the avoidance of any circumstances which could compromise the safety or security of an aircraft.

What constitutes exceptional Circumstances

General criteria

6. To be considered exceptional the circumstances must generally be:

. of immediate origin;

. of such a character that they could not reasonably have been foreseen; and

. and not reasonably able to be met by alternative arrangements.

Note Paragraph 6 sets out the criteria for determining whether or not a circumstance will be considered an exceptional circumstance. These criteria must be satisfied before a dispensation will be considered.

7. Where all of the above criteria are satisfied, the following matters may be taken into account to determine whether or not a dispensation should be granted:

. by what margin the predicted time of movement falls into the curfew period ie, is it shortly after 11.00 pm or shortly before 6.00 am;

. whether the take-off or landing is over water;

. whether the cause of delay is within the control of the operator;

. the noise level of the aircraft;

. the number of passengers involved; and

. the severity of the likely hardship.

Note: Paragraph 7 sets out additional matters which may be considered once the criteria specified in paragraph 6 have been satisfied.

Example:

8. An indicative example of a situation that may qualify for a dispensation would be where a large passenger aircraft was delayed by the need to off-load baggage for security reasons because a booked passenger had not boarded, where:

. the aircraft could not depart before the curfew, but

. could do so very short after its commencement where

Unavailability of main north-south runway

9. Major maintenance of runways at Sydney Airport is carried out on a schedule which requires the partial closure of the main runway for an extended period every eight to ten years. There may also be, from time to time, a need to close the runway to carry out urgent repairs or to accommodate other works at the Airport. Under the Act, a dispensation is required if permitted curfew traffic is to use runways other than those specified in the Act.

10. Notwithstanding paragraphs 6 and 7, an exceptional circumstance will exist in circumstances where the main north-south runway (that is, runway 16R and runway 34L as defined in section 4 of the Act) is not available because of maintenance of the runway or associated equipment necessary for the safe operation of the Airport.

Note: These situations constitute exceptional circumstances. It is envisaged that the public will be given notice of impending works which could result in changes to the normal patterns of curfew operations.

A dispensation under this provision will be limited to approving operations by normal curfew traffic only over Botany Bay.

Circumstances which will not be considered exceptional

11. The following are circumstances that will not be considered exceptional, and would therefore not lead to a dispensation:

. delays caused by adverse weather conditions which were known to the operator prior to an aircraft taking off;

. delays caused by industrial disputes

  - in protracted disputes involving long term severe disruption to
           aviation services consideration may be given to declaring the
           circumstances exceptional;

. disruptions to network or Sydney sector schedules due to mechanical problems (as distinct from immediate or unforeseen problems arising with an individual aircraft scheduled to arrive at or depart from Sydney close to commencement of the curfew);

. airline management considerations (such as a need to reposition or crew aircraft);

. circumstances of any kind where there has been sufficient time for alternative arrangements to be put in place or where a normal degree of operational flexibility should have sufficed to address the problem.

Reasonable efforts to be made

12. It is the responsibility of the operator to demonstrate that every reasonable effort has been made to avoid the need for a dispensation.

Conditions on Dispensations

13. If granted, dispensations will be subject to conditions specifying the procedures to be followed to limit the noise exposure of Sydney residents, such as restrictions on times and runway usage. For example, wherever possible dispensations should be made subject to a condition that the aircraft land or take-off over the water.

Administrative Procedures

14. Section 20 of the Act requires that a report on any dispensations which are granted must be tabled in Parliament. Applications for dispensations should, wherever possible, be communicated in writing by facsimile. If an application is made by phone this should be followed by written confirmation of the circumstances leading to the application as soon as possible.

Note: A decision may not be made where it is feasible to provide a written application and the applicant fails to do so.

15. Decisions on dispensation applications may be given by phone. Where a dispensation is granted, written advice will be provided to the applicant as soon as possible after the application is made setting out the conditions of the approval.