2015

September: New Terminal in Karratha

At first look it sounds like a typical tale of badly mistimed investment in infrastructure: the opening a $35 million expanded terminal at Karratha Airport in Western Australia's Pilbara region two years after passenger traffic peaked during the resources boom and then fell rapidly.

But City of Karratha mayor Peter Long, who will be joined by Infrastructure and Regional Development Minister Warren Truss at the official opening on Friday afternoon, said the council's funds had been spent well. The airport previously had a design capacity for 600,000 passengers a year, but when traffic peaked in July 2012, it was handling 56 per cent more traffic than the design capacity.

"It was terrible," Mr Long said of the crowding at the airport, particularly at the peak of the boom. "Some days it was standing room only in the departure lounges. People just parked all over the place."

At that time, there were regular direct flights between Karratha and Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to transport fly-in, fly-out workers from the east coast. They were building projects such as Rio Tinto's port expansions, Chevron's Gorgon project and CITIC Pacific's huge iron ore mine in the area because there was not enough labour left in Perth.

Those services are now gone and at July this year regular passenger traffic at the airport had fallen 21 per cent from the July 2012 peak, as Qantas and Virgin Australia have pulled back on flights and redirected capacity into better performing east coast leisure markets. But the overall traffic decline has been far less dramatic, at 9 per cent, due to an increase in charters and the airport has still been operating above the initial design levels. It remains the largest helicopter base in Australia, due to offshore oil and gas work.

Karratha's fly-in, fly-out population has fallen from about 13,000 at the peak to just a few thousand now, but the regular population of the town has remained steady at about 25,000. There is also hope about the future of the region, perhaps best evidenced by AMP Capital and Infrastructure Capital's recent purchase of the smaller nearby Port Hedland International Airport for $165 million, plus a commitment to spending $40 million on upgrades over the next five years. The purchase price was above the $150 million fair value set by the Port Hedland Council.

Potential buyers rebuffed

Mr Long said his city had received approaches from potential airport buyers as well, but they had been rebuffed. "People have been interested in leasing it off us long-term, but we want to keep that money [from the airport's profits] and put it back into the community," he said. "We'll always listen to offers. At some time we'll have to sell it. I don't think that will be for a long time."

He said once the new terminal reached its design capacity of 1.2 million passengers a year, another terminal would need to built at a cost of $100 million in today's money, which might require an outside investor. "But we don't expect that to happen for at least 10 years," he said.

In the meantime, as resources traffic levels out, Karratha is hoping to reignite its tourism industry, which had been subsumed by the boom when hotels were full and expensive and the boats that once roamed the archipelago with tourists were put to other uses. Mr Long was hopeful a high-end eco resort could be developed on nearby islands, and the road to Karjini National Park could be upgraded.

The airport was also looking to attract international flights and Singapore was the most likely option due to the links with the oil and gas industry.

"We're developing ourselves as the business centre of the Pilbara," Mr Long said.

Third runway design approval

In a major step forward in future-proofing WA’s aviation infrastructure, Perth Airport has awarded a $45 million contract to design its third runway and gain environmental approvals.

The winning team is a joint venture partnership between Australia and South Africa-based Aurecon and US company AECOM, which are world leaders in engineering and airport design.

Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches said yesterday that demand for intrastate flights was subdued but being ready for change in demand was critical to future success.

“Demand has proved volatile and difficult to forecast,” Mr Geatches said.

“For this reason, it is necessary to get infrastructure design and approvals progressed, despite the current softening in demand so that we can invest in future capacity in a timely manner.”

Mr Geatches said that consistent with the Perth Airport master plan, the third runway was due to be finished within the decade, subject to demand during the period.

The $45 million investment includes the airspace design and public consultation.

The new runway will be 2700m-long and 45m wide, running parallel to the existing main runway and between Terminal 1 and Abernethy Road.

Mr Geatches said the project included about 9km of taxiways, which would integrate the runway with the existing airfield.

State Transport Minister Dean Nalder yesterday commended Perth Airport on its investment decision, noting it coincided with the Federal and State governments spending $1 billion on Gateway WA, the new road network into the airport.

“There is no doubt this infrastructure will be needed for business and leisure travel in the future, to support the State’s continued prosperity,” he said.

Because of the peak demand nature of flights to and from Perth, mainly to support the resources industry, the airport is at or near capacity during critical times even in the downturn.

The cost of the third runway project is estimated at $480 million.

July: RFDS to get $2.5m

The Royal Flying Doctor Service will get some help from Canberra to stay in the skies.

Federal Health Minister Sussan Ley will announce today during a visit to Kalgoorlie-Boulder the Government will provide $2.5 million to help buy a new Pilatus PC12 plane (sic).

The money is on top of $2.7 million committed to build a new RFDS base in Broome.

The RFDS’ chief executive for western operations, Grahame Marshall, said the money would help with fleet replacement.

ATSB probes near-misses

Pilots and flight instructors at Perth's Jandakot Airport say the airport is no more dangerous than it has ever been, despite a review showing disproportionately high rates of 'near misses' there in the past two years.

They have also dismissed the Australian Transport Safety Bureau suggestion that language barriers could be causing the airport, one of Australia's busiest, to have triple the near misses of comparable airports.

Reporting and analysis manager Stuart Godley said on Tuesday ATSB would investigate language barriers as a possible contributor.

He said Jandakot was increasingly used by flying schools with many training pilots from Asia.

"In particular in Asia, there's a very large pilot shortage as air travel kicks off in a big way, and they don't have the open spaces that we have in Australia to teach their students how to fly," Mr Godley said on Tuesday.

"You do have people there [for whom] English is not their first language but whether that's contributing to these things, we don't have evidence of that yet.

"It's definitely something we'll follow up."

Air Australia International flight instructor Chuck McElwee, who has taught at Jandakot for 24 years, said he did not believe there had been any more near misses than usual and questioned whether reporting practices had changed.

"You can make numbers say anything you want, in my experience," McElwee, once an accident investigator for the United States Navy, said.

"Occasionally near misses happen but they can't be constituted by one particular group.

"Before you can send anyone flying solo, or even start teaching them, they need a certain standard of English and they're tested by qualified people, not some gumby off the street.

"You have to understand and speak English well. They've got heavy accents but as far as I know it's never been a problem."

"They have professional guys here and they should be protected from politics, but this is just my opinion.

Jandakot Flight Centre instructor John Barker, more commonly known at the airport as JB, has taught at Jandakot for more than 20 years.

He said the idea a language barrier was causing near misses was "nonsense" and the whole subject had been blown out of proportion.

"There are no more near misses than ever before, in my opinion," he said.

"It's a training airport, the busiest in Australia. There are three major airlines training their people here. Imagine if all the people learning to drive a car went to learn all in the same spot. Everyone has to learn somewhere.

"Those [problems] that take place are miniscule."

A commercial pilot, who did not wish to be named but who trained at Jandakot and has been flying in and out of the airport for the past eight years, said he was not surprised by the report because the airport was so busy.

He said there was constant movement there, with planes landing on or taking off from two runways every 30 seconds to a minute. It was close to Perth Airport's overhead international flight paths as well as hosting police flights, the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the flight schools.

"There's not a lot of room for error at Jandakot," he said.

"People tend to grumble [about accents] but I don't know if it's warranted.

"I would tend to agree with Chuck ... all the pilots trained overseas have to have a high level of proficiency in English. It's the universal language of flight. There is no denying other pilots make fun of them but I don't think it's as bad as others make out, though you can't deny it's possibly a contributing factor.

"The air traffic controllers do a really good job there under pressure when you consider what they have to look after in that stressful environment."

The investigation, due for completion by February, will examine recent near misses for common features and review the characteristics of Jandakot Airport compared to similar airports.

It will interview pilots and air traffic controllers involved, review incidents reported to the ATSB, examine the pattern of aircraft movement across time, interview frequent operators using Jandakot airport and interview air traffic control personnel.

May: RFDS and Rio introduce the Pilatus PC24

Mining giant Rio Tinto has pledged $10 million to help the Royal Flying Doctor Service buy a new fleet of jets for its WA operations.

The RFDS is contracted to introduce from 2017 up to four Pilatus PC24 planes with a price tag of $12.4 million each.

Rio has contributed $12.5 million to the service over the past decade, including funding the Life Flight jet, a Hawker 800XP plane which has been carrying patients across the State since 2009.

RFDS WA chief executive Grahame Marshall said the jet had evacuated almost 1500 patients, mostly from the Kimberley and Pilbara regions.

Iron ore chief executive Andrew Harding said he had personally experienced the work of the flying doctors 17 years ago in the Pilbara when his wife Jen went into labour five weeks early with their daughter Nicole.

"Karratha hospital was not able to handle such a premature baby," Mr Harding said.

"The RFDS was called in and we were flown to Port Hedland. Everything else went well and Nicole is in her second last year of school."

Rio's latest donation makes it a founding member of the RFDS' Aero Medical Fund, a $50 million campaign being launched today to help bankroll the new jets, a flight simulator and a new base in Broome.

February: State wants runway by 2019

The State Government wants Perth Airport to build a third runway by 2019 to eliminate bottlenecks affecting WA's economic development and is urging it to fast-track upgrading its landing system to beat fog delays and diversions.

Transport Minister Dean Nalder yesterday warned that the Government would play a far more active role in airport infrastructure to ensure air services and airports kept up with the State's economic and social development.

"Effective and efficient air services are crucial to WA's economic and social development and play an integral role in catering to the needs of a range of sectors, including mining and resources, corporate, tourism and leisure - while also providing vital air services to communities across WA," Mr Nalder told The Weekend West.

"The timely provision of aviation infrastructure at Perth Airport, including the development of a third runway, is essential to keep up with our State's growth."

Mr Nalder said the Government had not been as proactive with airport leaseholders Perth Airport Pty Ltd but would now work with its board and the Commonwealth, which owned the land, constructively to get better outcomes for the State.

Former transport minister Troy Buswell warned in 2012 that building a third runway was critical to WA's development.

Mr Nalder said he recognised that air traffic movements had slowed recently but the State wanted to ensure the airport was ready for the next upswing.

Even in the current downturn Perth Airport is at capacity, or near capacity, 66 per cent of the time during three of the four major peak times on Tuesday to Thursday.

This is critical for the WA-based resources industry - the engine room of Australia.

Over the past 50 years - and despite six major downturns - Perth Airport traffic on average has increased 9 per cent a year. Global air traffic increases about 5 per cent a year due in large part to increased affordability of flying.

Mr Nalder also urged the airport to install a CAT 111a auto-land capability, which would virtually fog-proof the airport, as soon as possible.

The State Aviation Strategy will also identify a suitable site for a second Perth metropolitan airport and a second general aviation airport.

2014

October: Air New Zealand pilot dies after landing Dreamliner at Perth

An Air New Zealand pilot collapsed at the controls of one of its new Dreamliners just after she landed it and later died, the airline says.

Captain Ann Barbarich died in Royal Perth Hospital on Tuesday, three days after falling sick while landing a new 787-9 Dreamliner at the airport on Saturday.

Capt Barbarich, who had flown 27 years with Air New Zealand, landed the plane safely but became seriously ill soon after landing.

Another pilot taxied the aircraft to the terminal while the other pilots helped her out.

She was assessed by two doctors on board before being taken to hospital. She died with her family beside her.

It is suspected she suffered a brain aneurysm.

Air New Zealand chief flight operations and safety officer David Morgan says there were four captains in the cockpit at the time of the incident.

"The aircraft was safe and under control at all times," he said.

"[She] was a well-known and respected long-haul pilot who had served 27 years with Air New Zealand flying domestically and internationally," he said.

She was learning how to operate the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

"Ann was at the controls when the aircraft landed in Perth and the aircraft landed normally," Morgan said.

"Unfortunately after landing she became seriously ill.

"Another pilot took over and taxied the aircraft to the gate while the other pilots began to assist Ann."

He said Capt Barbarich would be sadly missed and the airline was doing all it could to support her family, he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/air-new-zealand-pilot-dies-after-landing-plane-at-perth-20141031-11f8xb.html#ixzz3HiFSQbqB

September: B787 visits Perth.

The world's quietest and most advanced commercial passenger plane (sic), the 302-seat Boeing 787-9, will touch down in Perth for the first time this evening in the colours of Air New Zealand.

And the arrival is the first of many 787s to visit Perth soon, with Scoot to introduce the plane in the coming months.

Boeing's 787 is the first of a new breed of plane that boasts extraordinary environmental credentials cutting fuel consumption by 20 per cent and slashing noise around the airport.

Whereas the jet noise from the first 707s affected 86sqkm, the 787's noise footprint is almost confined to the airport boundary. The 787-9, Air New Zealand's first, is scheduled to touch down at 6.10pm.

Air New Zealand will operate the 787 daily between Auckland and Perth from October 15, and up to that date the airline will use the 787 on the route on an ad hoc basis.

The airline has ordered and optioned 18 787s and will get its second in two weeks.

Second to buy the 787, Air New Zealand is also the launch customer for the bigger 787-9 that carries 302 passengers in a four-class cabin.

The 787 is the first plane that can beat jet lag with higher cabin humidity levels, lower cabin altitude settings, reduced noise and a much smoother ride.

As well as these advances, the Air New Zealand 787 also features the world's most advanced in-flight entertainment system which does away with the handheld control.

Now passengers have all their controls on the seat back video screen - including light, flight attendant call button, sound level and brightness.

Also you can text the flight attendant for food or drinks and get an answer.

The IFE system has been designed in New Zealand in partnership with Panasonic and has an app-based touch screen system.

GEOFFREY THOMAS AVIATION EDITOR The West Australian

September 12, 2014, 5:24 am

July: New ADS-B ground stations to be installed to enhance surveillance

Thursday, 24 July 2014

Thirteen new Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) ground stations will soon be installed as part of the ADS-B Coverage and Communications Enhancement (ACME) project to expand the coverage of satellite-based air traffic surveillance throughout Australia ’s airspace.

ADS-B equipped aircraft transmit Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite data to a ground station about twice every second to accurately provide our air traffic controllers with radar-like surveillance, predominantly in remote areas where there is no conventional radar coverage.

Six of the new ground stations will be located in Western Australia, with two in Victoria and Queensland and one each in areas of New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

EGM ATC Greg Hood said ADS-B is the future of air traffic surveillance, not only in Australia, but throughout the rest of the world.

“Satellite-based technology delivers enhanced air traffic surveillance and offers our airspace users increased levels of safety, providing them with more efficient routes, while helping to reduce aviation’s footprint on the environment,” said Greg. “Safety is our number one priority and being a world leader in the introduction of ADS-B helps us ensure we maintain the very high level of service we provide to more than four million flights every year.”

The new ground stations, planned to be commissioned into service from 2015, will bring our national ADS-B network to total 74 ground stations.

A watery welcome for Etihad's daily flights to Perth

ARFF provided a ceremonial watery welcome for Etihad Airways at Perth Airport on 16 July when the national airline of the United Arab Emirates made it's inaugural flight to the Western Australia capital.

After flight EY486 landed, shortly after 1pm, two Mk8 ultra-large fire vehicles from Perth ARFF created a 'monitor cross' for the A340-600 aircraft to taxi through (pictured below).

Etihad now flies daily between Perth and Abu Dhabi, which becomes the fourth Australian gateway, alongside Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, the airline now services.

June: Systems Upgrade Should Beat Airport Fog

The West Australian, 21 June 2014

Geoffrey Thomas, Aviation Editor

Perth Airport will significantly upgrade its aircraft instrument landing system over the next 12 months, which should almost eliminate delays caused by fog. Yesterday, the airport confirmed to The Weekend West that talks with airlines and Airservices Australia were at an advanced stage. The announcement came after a day of chaos at the airport, with the travel plans of thousands disrupted when fog blanketed Perth Airport for more than six hours.

About 45 flights were delayed or diverted, some as far as Adelaide, because of customs and immigration requirements, setting in motion knock-on delays of at least 24 hours for many passengers.

The fog started rolling in at 9.30pm on Thursday and lifted about 5.20am yesterday.

Perth Airport has a CAT 1 instrument landing system. Under CAT 1, pilots must be able to see the runway from a height of 61m with forward visibility of 800m. The CAT 3b system to be installed reduces that visibility height to just 15m and forward visibility to only 75m, almost eliminating diversions.

Most international and many domestic aircraft are capable of CAT3b operations, if the airport is equipped.

May: Airline fell asleep over services to WA

It is extraordinary that Qantas no longer flies internationally from Perth - the capital of the State that is the engine room of Australia.

And when you consider that traffic through Perth has grown an average of 9 per cent a year for the past 50 years it is almost unbelievable.

But on Sunday it became fact with the last of the regular daily Perth-to-Singapore services.

Qantas' withdrawal from international services from WA - aside from code share and Jetstar - has been as spectacular as it is saddening.

In the past few years the airline has quit Tokyo, Hong Kong and finally Singapore.

At various times it also served other Asian destinations such as Kuala Lumpur and Bali.

Though the lower cost and greater in-flight product offering from Asian airlines are the major reasons, the wrong planes, slow introduction of seat-back videos and a Sydney-centric focus has not helped.

Perhaps if Qantas' 787s had been delivered as per the original schedule from mid-2008, things may have been different. And certainly if Qantas had bought 777s, it would have had greater flexibility.

Last month, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce touted the airline's commitment to WA and certainly from a domestic standpoint it is committed, but dig deeper and there are missed opportunities. Speaking at a WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry event, Mr Joyce said the Qantas group today had a bigger presence in WA than ever.

"We operate more than 500 flights per week serving WA, with 13 destinations around the State - and that's not to mention our growing charter business," he said. "We connect WA to 58 international destinations through Emirates, Jetstar and our Oneworld partners.

"And we will continue to operate seasonal international flights on routes like Perth-Singapore and Perth-Auckland. We've ramped up our domestic network within WA, working in partnership with the mining sector and through our subsidiary, Network Aviation, Qantas has become the market leader in fly-in, fly-out charters."

The reality is that Qantas' previous head office management was asleep in the cockpit when it comes to WA.

In 2008, the then frustrated Qantas State manager asked for a collection of photos taken showing the early morning chaos on the tarmac at its domestic terminal to convince head office that something needed to be done.

As a result, the terminal was almost doubled in capacity.

And it is true that Network with 10 Fokker 100s has become the biggest FIFO operator out of Perth with a 30 per cent market share but Qantas should have made this move 20 years ago.

The stark reality is that Qantas' performance in WA is a snapshot of the airline's and the country's wider problems.

Qantas is simply not competitive right now with most of its rivals, either internationally or domestically.

Mr Joyce is striving to undo the numerous mistakes of the past and right the ship but will he have enough time?

Unions have flagged they will fight every inch of the way against change which just plays into the hand of competitors.

And certainly when Virgin Australia's partner Etihad starts connecting Perth to the world in July, the airline's frequent flyers will have a superb Middle East connection, which will take European traffic away from the Qantas-Emirates combination.

Clearly Qantas and Mr Joyce face tough challenges but the toughest maybe to keep Australians' loyalty.

GEOFFREY THOMAS AVIATION EDITOR The West Australian, May 14, 2014

March: 'No controllers as two Garuda Airbuses flew over WA': Australian Transport Safety Bureau report

TWO Garuda aircraft flew over Western Australia's north without being monitored by air traffic controllers to ensure they didn't collide, a report has revealed.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau last week released its findings from an investigation into an incident on March 31 last year, when a Temporary Restricted Area (TRA) was declared for the Kimberley and Cable airspace sectors after two controllers called in at short notice to say they could not perform the night shift.

While the restriction was in place for five hours, two Garuda Airbus A330s — one bound for Melbourne and the other bound for Sydney — flew through the area.

Air controllers in Melbourne only became aware the planes were there when they were contacted by the aircraft as they emerged from the TRA.

“The minimum standards for separation from other aircraft were met, but both situations constituted losses of assurance that separation would be maintained,” the bureau said in its report.

While Airservices Australia had adequately addressed some of the safety issues highlighted in the incident, it had not done so with others, the ATSB said.

“A range of actions by operational personnel did not conform to expectations.

“Airservices' risk controls were not robust enough to effectively manage this situation and ensure they would be made aware of all aircraft that were operating within the TRA.”

• ATSB report

February: Some flights in and out of Perth have been cancelled because of a volcanic eruption in Indonesia

Virgin Australia has cancelled all flights to and from Bali, Christmas Island, Cocos Island and Phuket due to volcanic ash from an eruption in Indonesia.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes and three international airports have been closed after a volcano on the main island of Java erupted late yesterday.

Virgin says its meteorologists are monitoring the situation.

WA notable for air rage incidents

Last year there were 383 cases of disruptive behaviour from airline passengers, with some of the worst involving flights to and from WA.

The Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development says the number of incidents is 2 per cent down on 2012 but is more than four times the incidents recorded in the US.

US Federal Aviation Authority records show there were only 85 incidents last year.

Incidents include inappropriate comments, intoxication, altercations between passengers, smoking and other unruly behaviour.

But the numbers do not include altercations at airport terminals.

The International Air Transport Association says there were more than 15,000 air rage incidents between 2007 and 2011 but it estimates that only half of such incidents are reported.

In early January last year, the captain of a Perth-bound Virgin Australia flight had to return to Darwin after an altercation over the cost of a $10 Luke Mangan gourmet chicken sandwich.

The cost of diverting the flight was put at $10,000.

Australian Federal Police arrested the passenger in Darwin and sources say he was admitted to the mental health unit at Royal Darwin Hospital.

One passenger said at the time the man was fine until told the price of the roast chicken, coleslaw, lettuce and tomato mixed-grain bread sandwich about an hour into the flight.

"Then he just lost it," the passenger said.

Later that month, a Perth man was arrested in Singapore after a swearing incident on a Tiger Airways flight from Perth.

Maritime worker Bruce Griffiths, 47, faced a caning under the island state's "outrage of modesty" laws but this was dropped.

In December, a 52-year-old Victorian woman allegedly became unruly on a flight from Perth to Esperance.

She was alleged to have sworn, pushed crew and used her mobile phone.

The woman was charged with failing to comply with instructions aboard an aircraft.

Binge drinking is a major factor in air rage incidents and in 2009 Qantas was forced to ban spirits and full-strength beer on WA flights.

GEOFFREY THOMAS AVIATION EDITOR The West Australian February 1, 2014

January: Perth Airport defies air travel slump

Air traffic through Perth Airport continues to climb despite a nationwide decline in domestic air travel of about 11 per cent, highlighting that WA appears to be immune to the worst of the economic slowdown.

For the six months to December 31, the number of passengers through Perth Airport increased 2 per cent to 7.12 million, with a record 400,290 using the international terminal last month.

The unprecedented demand is putting more pressure on the airport, airlines and resources companies to commit to fast-track another parallel runway, with almost 70 per cent of the landing slots full or near capacity between 5am and 9pm from Tuesday to Thursday.

There are now four peak periods - early morning, late morning, early afternoon and late afternoon-evening -when the airport cannot handle any more landings and only limited departures.

Changing timings to off-peak times is not possible for the airlines that support resources companies because they need to get two rotations a day to the mine sites for their planes. Last year it was estimated congestion at Perth Airport was costing airlines $24 million in wasted fuel and related costs.

Perth Airport needs the airlines and their primary customers - the resources companies - to agree to the funding of the runway, estimated at about $480 million.

Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches said planning and design of the third runway was progressing.

"Consultation with airlines is ongoing and Perth Airport considers this to be a 'live' project," Mr Geatches said. "Our position has been stated clearly to airlines - we believe design and construction of the third runway should proceed without delay.

"Perth Airport is working with all stakeholders and actively encouraging them to make a firm commitment to the third runway."

Airport sources say building the third runway is a funding challenge for resources companies which are striving to cut costs. The companies will ultimately pay a big part of the cost through a ticket charge.

"It may well be the Federal Government needs to intervene to fund this," one airline executive said.

2013

September: WA State Aviation Strategy

The State Government has called on Perth Airport to fast-track a third runway while flagging the search for a new airport site.

Releasing the 95-page WA State Aviation Strategy for public comment, Transport Minister Troy Buswell said though aviation was mostly a Federal jurisdiction, the risk to WA's economic and social development from air services and airports falling behind was too great for the State not to play an active role.

"It's imperative that Perth Airport now needs to bring forward the development of a third runway to avoid damaging and disruptive delays," Mr Buswell said.

Perth Airport is expected to conclude the business case for the third runway soon.

Airport chief executive Brad Geatches says it cannot unilaterally decide to construct a third runway without airline support but is urging them to get aboard. "We want to get on with it," he said.

The WA Department of Transport compiled the report with key government agencies covering economic development, planning, tourism, local government and regional development.

Airlines, airports, the resources and energy industries and key players in general aviation were consulted.

The report said forecasts of WA aviation activity consistently underestimated actual growth.

In 2004, Perth Airport's forecast of annual passenger movements was 12.6 million in 2026 but this level was reached last year, the report said.

The airport concedes its activity forecasts have been conservative but points out it relies on a variety of data sources that were also wrong.

However, the department commissioned GHD, one of the world's leading engineering, architecture and environmental consulting companies, to produce independent growth forecasts for 2012 to 2032.

Its growth projections are 30 per cent above Perth Airport's latest forecast.

The State Aviation Strategy report said "congestion at Perth Airport is creating additional costs and inefficiencies across the community, commerce and industry, and is contributing to delays and inefficiencies at regional airports across the entire State aviation network".

The report said the departments of planning and transport were undertaking preliminary work to identify a suitable site for a new metropolitan airport.

However, the report says Perth's current airport is likely to meet Perth's requirements for the next 40 to 50 years.

WA State Aviation Strategy

WA Air Traffic Task Force

August: Air traffic shows WA is taking off

Geoffrey Thomas, Aviation Editor, The West Australian

Perth Airport set a record for passenger numbers last month when 1.24 million people took to the skies, indicating economic conditions are on the rise again. The record is a 17 per cent jump on the previous month and almost 5 per cent above the same month last year. Plane movements, at 13,265, were the second highest on record.

Airline traffic is the leading economic indicator of the health of an economy and just as WA remained resilient in the global financial crisis of 2008-09, it appears the State's economy has shrugged off the Australian downturn.

The figures do not include all passengers using the Skippers Aviation, Maroomba Airlines, Cobham and Network Aviation terminals which could number 80,000 travellers month.

Perth Airport has enjoyed an extraordinary growth average of 9 per cent a year since 1960.

The resurgence of passenger traffic underscores the need for a third runway to meet business generated not only by the resources sector, but also the continued heavy demand for holiday travel interstate and overseas.

Last month, Perth Airport announced fast-tracked negotiations with airlines over the third runway, which will cost about $480 million.

Commenting on a fall in passenger traffic in the first half of this year, airport chief executive Brad Geatches said the "growth rates do not alter Perth Airport's redevelopment plans".

"Our view is that the third runway project should proceed without delay," he said.

"For long lead infrastructure, it is necessary to look through the cycle to ensure capacity is available when it is needed."

A final proposal on a runway parallel to the main one should be presented to airlines within two months. The airport has two runways that cross and cannot be used simultaneously, though they are used alternately in the right wind conditions.

A third parallel runway would virtually eliminate delays and future-proof the airport, Mr Geatches said.

In the interim, Perth Airport is implementing recommendations from a report by Britain's air traffic control provider.

These changes combined with improvements by Airservices Australia will make traffic flows and runway throughput more efficient.

Last year, Airservices said that only a 50 per cent increase in runway capacity would solve the airport's peak needs.

The airport is virtually at peak capacity between 5.15am and 7am Monday to Thursday.

The third runway project should proceed without delay." Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches

Paraburdoo radar project wins award

Airservices' Paraburdoo Secondary Surveillance Radar project has been announced as the State Winner in the Defence/Aerospace Category of the Western Australia Project Management Achievement Awards, which were presented in Perth on Thursday 8 August.

The Project Managers were Ian Dodd and Libby Haydon who were supported by a great team from across Airservices. The project presented many challenges which required ingenuity and outstanding project management skills.

This award achievement means that the project will now be considered for a National Award at the Australian Institute of Project Management National Conference in Perth in October 2013.

July: Airport to move on upgrades

Perth Airport will fast-track talks with airlines over a third runway and an upgraded instrument landing system to all but eliminate delays and diversions.

Bad weather, more fog and increasing traffic are adding pressure to the airport's infrastructure, with airlines counting the rising costs.

Tuesday's morning fog, then wild weather caused arrival delays of a combined 80 hours - in the air and on the ground - across 220 flights.

It caused the diversion from Perth to Adelaide of an Emirates flight, costing the airline about $500,000, sources in Dubai said.

Excluding the Emirates diversion, the fuel cost of airborne delays was about 118,000 litres of fuel costing $95,000.

The Weather Bureau said fog was increasing, with nine fog events since July 11 last year.

Fog conditions were forecast for 65 days in the past year when flights had to carry extra fuel, requiring the offloading of passengers and cargo.

Some flights turned back because fog was forecast.

Perth Airport uses a CAT 1 instrument landing system in fog. Under the system, pilots must be able to see the runway from a height of 61m with forward visibility of 800m. A CAT 111b system would reduce that height to 15m and forward visibility to 75m.

Chief executive Brad Geatches said the airport was "accelerating discussions" on a CAT 111b system at a cost of about $20 million and a third runway to cost about $500 million.

A final proposal on both plans would be presented to airlines within three months.

The airport has two runways that cross and cannot be used simultaneously, though they are used alternately in the right wind conditions.

A third parallel runway would virtually eliminate delays and "future-proof the airport", Mr Geatches said.

For the year ended June 30, Perth Airport passenger traffic increased 8.17 per cent to 13.7 million travellers and flights rose 6.5 per cent to 151,333.

The passenger figure does not include Cobham, Skippers Aviation, Network Aviation and Maroomba Airlines terminals, estimated at another one million passengers.

Passenger growth in the first half of the year averaged about 11 per cent but has softened in the past six months to an average of 5 per cent.

Airlines that service Perth are still ordering planes and BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group have announced plans to forge ahead with a lift in iron ore production.

Geoffrey Thomas Aviation Editor, The West Australian, July 19, 2013.

May: Qantas upbeat on boom

Qantas will announce its vision for WA today with more flights to meet the demand of the resources industry.

Chief executive Alan Joyce will deliver an upbeat assessment of the State's economy when he speaks to the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The bullish outlook from Qantas comes as Perth Airport has released April traffic figures that show a 5 per cent lift in passengers to 1.15 million and a 4.7 per cent growth in flights to 12,565, compared with the same month last year.

For the 10 months to the end of April, airport passenger traffic was up 9.15 per cent to 11.46 million, compared with the previous year, and plane movements were up 5.6 per cent to 126,000.

The passenger numbers, however, do not include much of the fly-in, fly-out traffic - up to an additional one million passengers - through Skippers Aviation, Network Aviation, Maroomba Airlines and Cobham terminals.

For Qantas, the increase in demand is being fuelled by customers such as BHP Billiton, Apache, Bristow and Fortescue Metals Group.

The West Australian understands Qantas will increase the number of Perth to Geraldton services and replace five of the 74-seat Q400 turboprop flights with 125-seat Boeing 717 jets. Karratha will also get additional flights.

The airline has increased capacity on east-west flights to Sydney and Melbourne from this week, with all mid-week flights operated by 301-seat Airbus A330s rather than 254-seat Boeing 767s.

Mr Joyce is expected to outline the airline's plans to spend tens of millions expanding its domestic Terminal 4 to cope with the mining boom demand.

Last year, Qantas had an unprecedented 26 per cent growth, and over the past five years the airline has expanded 16 per cent a year. It expects an easing of demand to 10 per cent a year - still more than twice the world average air-travel growth.

Qantas operates more than 280 return flights with 75,000 seats to regional WA each week.

Geoffrey Thomas Aviation Editor, The West Australian, May 28, 2013, 2013

April: 'Please explain' runway delay

Geoffrey Thomas Aviation Editor, The West Australian

The State Government wants a please explain from Perth Airport operators over delays to plans for a third runway to handle demand from the resources industry.

Transport Minister Troy Buswell said undertakings and a time line for building a third runway made last November had not been adhered to.

Perth Airport had said that discussions with airlines over construction of the runway would start in December and be concluded by this month, with lessees of the land advised to vacate by 2017.

"It is disappointing to hear one of the first milestones for the development of a third runway has been missed, as we had every indication these discussions would be completed by April," Mr Buswell said.

With an environmental impact study and various approvals still needed, a new runway would not be commissioned until late 2017.

Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches said discussions with airlines were continuing.

But according to Qantas, there has been only one meeting with the airport about the issue.

Perth Airport has two runways but they cross and cannot be used simultaneously, though they are used - in the right wind condition - on an alternating basis.

To increase the capacity of the airport to meet early morning weekday demand a third runway needs to be built parallel to the existing main 21/03 runway.

It has been estimated delays at Perth Airport are costing the State's economy $72 million a year but that does not include the indirect costs nor the loss of production time for the resources industry, which is put at $100,000 an hour.

The airport estimates the runway would cost almost $600 million.

Perth Airport has also given assurances that shortcomings at its new regional Terminal 2 will be rectified.

Passengers are critical of the terminal's lack of parking, single-lane access, seating capacity and the long walk to planes. "This airport looks to have been designed by someone who doesn't have to use it," one fly-in, fly-out worker said.

Mr Geatches said not all the elements of T2 had been completed. A new lounge for Alliance Airlines opened two weeks ago and a Sky- west Airlines lounge will open soon with a combined capacity of 400 passengers.

A new short-term carpark for Terminal 2 will open in July.

On the long walk to planes, Mr Geatches said there were plans to maximise the efficiency of bays, gates and parking to use those closest to the terminal in non-peak periods.

Passenger growth in Australia was more then 3 times the rate of the United States. International travel grew by 5.2 per cent with the stand out performances China-Australia which increased 15.6 per cent, Japan-Australia which increased 11 per cent and Australia-Singapore 9 per cent. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Australia and the Philippines to allow direct international flights between Avalon and the Philippines has been signed. It is expected to lead to Avalon Airport being developed as a second International Airport in Melbourne.

Domestic passenger numbers grew by 4.1 per cent with 2 million more passengers carried during 2012 over the numbers in 2011. The greatest increase was Melbourne-Perth which grew 14.8 per cent, Cairns-Melbourne up 15.3 per cent and Perth to Port Hedland which grew at 33 per cent.

Sydney-Melbourne and Sydney-Brisbane continue to be the two busiest domestic routes in the country.

BITRE's International and Domestic reports can be downloaded from www.bitre.gov.au

January: Parking at Perth Airport, Xmas 2012

Acknowledgement: I believe that these were taken by Geoffrey Thomas, aviation writer.

Cost of airport delays

Congestion at Perth Airport and a lack of runway capacity are costing the airline industry and its passengers an estimated $72 million a year, according to a State Treasury report.

The figures come as Perth Airport confirmed yesterday that passenger numbers jumped almost 10 per cent last month to a record 1.17 million, putting more pressure on the airport's infrastructure.

Treasurer and Transport Minister Troy Buswell, who commissioned the report, said the figures "further strengthened the case for a third runway".

"This analysis shows that congestion has an adverse impact on the economy, business and individuals," Mr Buswell said yesterday.

"While the runway issue is not the sole driver of congestion it shows that Perth Airport needs to build a third runway as soon as possible."

However the report does not include the flow-on costs imposed on businesses and individuals affected by flight delays.

The resources industry standard for lost production at a mine site is $100,000 an hour.

"Clearly the real cost to the economy is much higher," Mr Buswell said.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy manager of people strategies Bruce Campbell-Fraser said it was extremely important to get staff to mine sites on time and well rested.

"The cost of delays is dramatic when managing changeovers," Mr Campbell-Fraser said.

Treasury said 20 per cent of scheduled flights in and out of Perth were delayed 30 minutes, which is similar to the US.

The delay figure did not include charter flights which carry most fly-in, fly-out workers.

Perth handled 140,000 flights in the past financial year.

Passenger and plane traffic through Perth Airport has grown about 40 per cent in the past five years.

A Perth Airport spokesman said he could not comment because it had not seen the Treasury report.

Last year the airport committed to the process to build the third runway, but it is expected to take at least four years because of the lengthy environmental approvals process.

The airport, air traffic control provider Airservices and airlines are also working through a program to increase the efficiency of the airport's operations, which is designed to eliminate delays in the afternoon. But according to Airservices, the morning demand for flights can only be met by a third - and second parallel - runway.

From next month, Perth Airport will introduce a slot system for weekday morning flights to eliminate the chaos of planes queuing for up to 45 minutes.

December: Flights get slot system

Perth Airport will introduce a system in February to try to bring order to the chaotic line-up of planes waiting for take-off on weekday mornings.

The airport says it has reached consensus with airlines and only 4 per cent of domestic flights will require a time adjustment, with an average change for affected flights of about 15 minutes.

The Schedule Co-ordination System will more closely balance demand and capacity throughout the day, by co-ordinating the departure and arrival flight times of airlines operating at Perth Airport.

There should be fewer delays and uncertainty for airlines and their customers.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy chief executive Reg Howard-Smith said he supported measures taken by Perth Airport and Airservices Australia to improve aviation services in the State.

"The provision of punctual, reliable, safe and efficient aviation services is imperative to the continued sustainability and growth of the Western Australian resources sector and the safety of those working in it," he said.

However, though the slot system brings order, it does not solve the problems of lack of capacity during weekday early morning peaks.

"A collaborative approach from all stakeholders is needed to develop a system well tuned to West Australian circumstances," Mr Howard-Smith said.

Geoffrey Thomas, The West Australian, December 6 2012.

November: Third runway is five years away

Perth Airport has assured the State Government that it is working towards having a third runway operational by late 2017 to future-proof the State's economic development.

Treasurer and Transport Minister Troy Buswell said yesterday he had a constructive meeting with airport chairman David Crawford and chief executive Brad Geatches about building a third runway.

"We now have a timeline and clear performance checkpoints for us to monitor the progress of this runway," Mr Buswell said.

Mr Geatches agreed that the meeting had been constructive.

"Perth Airport is proceeding on a path of design and consultation that would, subject to agreements and approvals, see the third runway delivered by the end of 2017, at the earliest," Mr Geatches said.

Last month, Mr Buswell warned that if the airport did not fast-track the additional runway, the State's development would be impeded.

Over the past five years, passenger numbers through Perth Airport have grown 40 per cent to 12.6 million last year.

Plane movements climbed at a similar rate.

In its 2009 master plan the airport said it did not need to build a third - and second parallel - runway until 2029. "This is a significant bringing-forward of its plans," Mr Buswell said.

But Mr Buswell warned that as part of the process, it was essential that the airport and Airservices Australia adopt every measure available to reduce the area impacted by plane noise. Some estimates suggest that a reduction of 30 to 40 per cent or better of the area affected by noise can be achieved by adopting world best practices.

"This is extremely important and everything should be done to cut the noise," said Mr Buswell.

He said the airport would have concluded preliminary negotiations on the project with airlines by April. It would then spend $60 million on a two-year regulatory approval process that would include the environmental impact.

If approvals were received, construction would start in 2015 after approval from the airlines.

Last week Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said he had made it known to Perth Airport that there was a need for more runway capacity.

Geoffrey Thomas, Aviation Editor, The West Australian, November 23, 2012.

October: Windshear causes damage

A Fokker 100 jet owned by Qantas subsidiary Network Aviation has been grounded in the East Pilbara after making a "hard landing" that appeared to have caused significant damage.

Photographs taken underneath the jet show dents and one of the wheels seemingly forced into the undercarriage.

A spokeswoman for Qantas, which bought Network Aviation last year for $30 million, said the plane came down hard at the Nifty copper mine three days ago in the Great Sandy Desert after experiencing wind sheer on landing.

There were 26 fly-in, fly-out workers aboard. No one was injured.

Sources told _The West Aust _ _ralian _that the damage may lead to the jet having to be written-off but the spokeswoman said an engineer's inspection was needed.

She said preliminary reports suggested the damage was superficial.

Congestion at Perth

Congestion at Perth Airport is holding back the WA economy, according to Treasurer Troy Buswell.

He has asked his department to calculate the extent of the economic loss but expects it to be tens of millions of dollars a year.

Mr Buswell said yesterday that industry feedback suggested delays attributed to the lack of runways "were very significant to business and thus, by extension, to the State's economy".

Airline executives have indicated that a one-hour delay for a fly-in, fly-out trip could cost the resources industry $50,000 to $80,000.

"Given the size of WA and its isolation, the airport is a critical piece of infrastructure," Mr Buswell said. "If they do not add another runway, it will become an economic blocker."

He said the situation was so bad executives were leaving a day earlier to ensure they made meetings on time.

"I also have people telling me they now prefer to drive to regional destinations because of the problems and delays at Perth Airport," he said.

Centre of Asia Pacific Aviation chairman Peter Harbison said the lack of runway capacity would strangle the State's development.

"If Perth wants to achieve its true economic potential, lack of airport runway capacity is like cutting off the blood supply," he said.

While acknowledging plans for $750 million upgrades to terminals and facilities, Mr Buswell said the airport must urgently address its runway capacity.

"It is no good building new terminals if you can't take off and land," he said.

Perth Airport has two runways that cross and cannot be used concurrently. But in certain wind conditions, typically in summer, planes can alternate take-offs and landings on both to slightly increase the airport's capacity.

But airport chief executive Brad Geatches blames bad forecasting by all parties and inefficient airspace design for the problems.

"Governments, airlines and the resource sector all dramatically underestimated the growth and it should come as no surprise, therefore, that Perth Airport underestimated the demand," he said.

The airport's growth has soared an unprecedented 40 per cent since 2008 to 13.5 million passengers, including all FIFO charters.

Plane movements have jumped 32 per cent to 142,000.

There have been delays of up to two hours to land or take off at Perth and delays of 30 minutes have become standard for the morning peak between 6am and 8.30am.

The airport is about to introduce a scheme to maximise runway capacity it hopes will cut delays.

And a recent study by air traffic control experts found much of Perth's airport and airspace capacity was unused because of failure to adopt better practices.

The airport is also now looking at building a second parallel runway costing over $600 million.

Mr Geatches claims that no airline has asked the airport for the additional runway, but two airline executives dispute this. He said the airport was prepared and had the capacity to build a third runway.

FIFO flights to be slugged

Mining companies are set to be slugged more for flying in the peak morning hours at Perth Airport as part of a bold bid to cut congestion that their fly-in fly-out workforces create for other travellers.

Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches also revealed that the airport is in preliminary discussions with resources giants and their charter airlines over contributing towards the $600 million third runway, should it be needed.

Delays at the airport have become one of the biggest headaches for business in the State, prompting a widespread review of the airfield's short and long-term options to alleviate congestion.

Unlike Brisbane airport, which has begun building a third runway as part of a five-year process, Perth would not normally be due for a third runway yet as it handles 40 per cent less aircraft than the Queensland capital.

However, in a sign of the stresses that the resources boom is placing on WA infrastructure, early morning flights ferrying workers to and from mine sites are sparking long queues on Perth's tarmac.

Mr Geatches said that this demanded changes to the current charging and queuing arrangements if an expensive third runway was to be avoided in the short-term.

"It's almost like electricity generation," he told _WestBusiness _.

"Unfortunately, you have to construct power stations for the peak demand so that the lights don't go out. It's not quite as bad in airports but the truth is that we design our infrastructure for peak demand and the fact is that demand is being driven by the resource sector."

In the short-term, as part of a review of the so-called slot system that determines which aircraft get priority, Mr Geatches said a price increase of the $205 minimum airfield landing and takeoff charge was likely at peak times to encourage airlines that could fly in shoulder periods to do so.

"The situation does lend itself to some form of peak-hour pricing where it brings in an element of user-pays, so if you are wedded to operating in that peak hour period a peak hour price is a way of saying that is a way you can carry some of the burden," he said.

Mr Geatches said that the slot system would remain regulated, rather than being a straight auction system, to ensure that regular passenger liners were not disadvantaged.

And for the first time he confirmed that the cost of a third runway, if airlines and mining companies were prepared to help fund it, would be about $600 million. "As we have discussed with them their needs and the fact that their needs outstrip or capacity in the morning peak, there has been general dialogue about a third runway and how you might fund it," he said.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy director Damian Callachor said while it was committed to working with the airport on slot management changes and a possible third runway, it did have concerns that changes could have significant impacts on rostering, fatigue management and costs.

"Industry does not want aviation to derail operations given the significant benefits these projects provide to WA," he said.

"While not opposed to a third runway, the CME would like to see the detail on how it would be funded. Should it be expected industry fund the runway, companies would then expect exclusive rights."

August: Virgin increase services to Perth

In a dramatic escalation of the war for Perth air passengers, Virgin Australia has announced that most flights from Perth to Sydney and Melbourne will be on its new A330 wide-body jets and economy passengers will get free hot meals, drinks and in-flight entertainment.

The upgrade of services puts Virgin Australia head to head with Qantas - the first time Australia's biggest airline has faced direct competition since Ansett's demise.

Virgin will also increase its 737-800 flights with a full business class cabin from Brisbane to Perth from two to three a day on weekdays.

The airline says fare costs will not be affected.

Virgin Australia group executive Merren McArthur said enhancing the travel experience from the east coast to Perth was an important part of the strategy to become the airline of choice in Australia.

Perth was the fastest growing capital city for airlines with almost double-digit growth. Most cities have recorded flat numbers.

"We have recorded doubledigit growth every year for the past four years," Ms MacArthur said.

The airline will roll out the new product and services from September 26.

The economy upgrade is a major shift for Virgin Australia, which previously charged for food, drinks and in-flight entertainment.

Like Qantas, the airline will offer free alcoholic drinks after midday on transcontinental flights.

To support the significant push into the Perth market, Virgin Australia is em- ploying another 200 flight attendants for its Perth base.

"Over the past 12 months, we have increased our WA workforce by 30 per cent," Ms McArthur said.

The airline has 160 return services to Perth every week from domestic and international destinations.

July: Perth radar upgrade

Airservices has begun essential upgrade works on the terminal area radar (TAR) at Perth Airport as part of a $90 million Australian Mode S Terminal Area Radar (AMSTAR) program.

Originally commissioned in September 1993, the TAR was installed at the airport to replace a primary/secondary radar at Kalamunda, to the north-east of Perth, which later became an en route secondary surveillance radar (SSR).

Providing Perth and Melbourne air traffic controllers with a primary coverage range of up to 60nm and secondary coverage of up to 256nm, the TAR enables the safe and efficient movements of aircraft in and around the terminal manoeuvring area of the airport. The upgrade of the radar will see an improved solid state primary radar and a Mode S (select) capable monopulse SSR installed, ensuring that the equipment continues to function safely and efficiently.

Radar coverage for the Perth area during the upgrade works will be provided by the RAAF radar at Eclipse Hill and Airservices SSR radar at Kalamunda.

BA146 cleared for gravel operations

COBHAM Aviation Services plans to unlock a lucrative new fly-in, fly-out market by becoming the first Australian company to open up gravel airstrips to commercial passenger jets.

The Adelaide-headquartered operator has spent 18 months testing a gravel kit modification to allow it to land its 71-seat BAe 146 aircraft on unsealed strips.

The kits, which protect the undercarriage and underside of the airframe during take-offs and landings, have so far been fitted to two aircraft, with another conversion already planned and three more in the pipeline.

The modifications include low-pressure tyres as well as stone deflectors and guards on the undercarriage to prevent stones being flicked into the fuselage or engines. They were approved, along with changes to flight manuals, by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority earlier this year after the company proved the services could be conducted safely and reliably.

"This really is an historic step for FIFO aviation in Australia," Cobham chief executive Peter Nottage said. "Cobham is the only Australian FIFO provider which offers jet passenger services to unsealed airstrips, and the only other known country in which it is being used is Mongolia."

The modified aircraft are flown by Cobham's regional services unit, which operates a FIFO fleet of 20 jet and turboprop aircraft, and are already doing six trips a week between Perth and Kambalda as well as five trips a week to Xtrata's Cosmos mine, also in Western Australia.

The company is also demonstrating the modified aircraft to existing and prospective clients. "It's a relatively small part of our operation but it's growing and it's got a lot of good interest," Mr Nottage said. "Where we see it adds value is the speed and the comfort and the seat costs of taking people into mines where 50-seat turboprops have traditionally been used.

"They can either take more people or they can do the same number of people with a lesser number of flights a week. It's quicker, a bit quieter and it will be safer with a jet operation."

Mr Nottage said he could see the operation growing to a dozen aircraft with mines in the construction and exploration phase obvious targets. "For other mines, even in their mature phase, they may not warrant a sealed strip either in the size of the mine or the number of people they're moving and we can offer them a jet service," he said.

Asked why it had taken until now to introduce such a service, he said it had been an involved process proving the operations were safe and sustainable. "It hasn't been a . . . simple exercise in regards to our own safety case and evaluations or working with the regulator," he said. "There was no point us being able to fly into unsealed strips if we were wrecking the strips in six months."

Perth ATC nightmare

A new system to allocate landing and take-off slots at Perth's overcrowded airport is not working properly, delaying flights and putting pilots under stress.

In a letter leaked to The West Australian, the Regional Aviation Association of Australia has told its WA members that air traffic control provider Airservices Australia has admitted the system is failing and that too many pilots are forced to declare "fuel emergencies".

Airservices recently introduced the Metron system to try to better manage the limited runway capacity at Perth Airport.

The system gives priority to incoming flights originating more than 800 nautical miles from Perth, meaning a flight from Broome or Adelaide will get clearance to land ahead of a flight from Karratha or Albany. Most of the critical fly-in, fly-out flights come from sites within the 800-nautical-mile radius.

This is creating a bottleneck with many flights being put into holding patterns for up to 40 minutes and forced either to divert or declare a fuel emergency - indicating the plane will run out of fuel before it reaches its intended destination if it continues to stay in a holding pattern - to be given priority to land.

The Metron system was introduced to ration the limited slots at Perth Airport and to try to stop long and wasteful queuing for take-off or holding for landing.

According to the RAAA, the acting chief executive of Airservices, Andrew Clark, has admitted the system is not working.

Airservices told the association they were forced into Metron because of the congestion at Perth.

In an official response, an Airservices spokeswoman said it was "well aware of a number of concerns that some regional airlines have expressed with the deployment of Metron in Perth".

"We have been working with individual operators and industry bodies (including the RAAA) in recent weeks to ensure that the benefits of the software are realised," she said.

"Based on airline feedback, Airservices is also reviewing procedures which determine which aircraft use the Metron Traffic Flow tool to better improve the overall air traffic flow into Perth."

RAAA says that as a result of the chaos, on-time performance for many airlines has slumped from 90 per cent to 50 per cent.

Some operators have told The West Australian pilots are also being put under pressure to meet slot times, adding to stress. Missing a take-off slot can mean a delay of up to two hours.

One airline said the system "was a nightmare".

Emirates boost services

EMIRATES will boost services to Perth in a major expansion of its global route network.

Twice-daily services to Perth will grow to 19 weekly flights from December 1, and rise to thrice-daily flights from March 1.

New Broome tower opened.

The new towers program celebrated an important milestone on 3 July with the opening a new $20 million combined air traffic control tower and aviation rescue fire station at Broome Airport - the first facility of its type in Australia.

The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP was joined in Broome for the opening by Airservices Acting Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Clark.

“With a significant increase in aircraft movements in the north-west, this facility is a demonstration of our commitment to provide safe, efficient air traffic operations in the region well into the future,” said Mr Clark.

Standing at just over 16 metres high, the air traffic control tower is fitted out with the latest air traffic surveillance and communications technology including state-of-the-art touch screens at the controller’s consoles. Featuring eight panes of 40mm thick glass, each weighing 600kg, the new tower is the first which Airservices has opened in 15 years.

The facility includes two vehicle bays and a maintenance bay which house three Rosenbauer Mk8 ultra-large fire vehicles valued at $1 million each. A Fire Control Centre is located in an observation tower overlooking the airport and is equipped with the latest communications and monitoring technology.

“The new tower enhances safety and efficiency by providing controllers with better airfield views and more modern equipment. The fire station ensures our aviation fire fighters are better able to respond to any incident within minutes,” said Mr Clark.

Taking 14 months to design and build, the facility is constructed from structural steel, colorbond and compressed fibre cement sheeting and is designed to withstand Category 4 cyclones. The facility also includes rain water collection for landscape irrigation.

Airservices is investing $942 million over the next five years on updating and rebuilding its infrastructure including air traffic control towers and fire stations.

June: Skippers challenge Perth Airport Corp

Skippers Aviation, one of State's major independent airlines, has taken Perth Airport to the competition watchdog over alleged restrictions to its future.

Skippers' chief executive Stan Quinlivan said the airport operator was preventing him importing two new 70-seat Q400 planes valued at $24 million to service booming resource industry demand through restrictive lease provisions.

"Perth Airport is singling out independent local operators by putting restrictive covenants on the maximum arrival and departure numbers and the ability to upgrade the fleet," Mr Quinlivan said.

Skippers' new lease extension from 2021 to 2030 cuts the number of passengers it can handle to just 200 an hour - down from 600 - and effectively freezes the plane size to existing types no bigger than 50 seats.

But in adjacent facilities to Skippers, Cobham and Network Aviation are importing 100-seat jets.

Though the current lease doesn't run out until 2021, the investment required in new planes and support facilities requires long-term security of unrestricted growth.

A Perth Airport spokeswoman said that discussions with Skippers were "commercial in-confidence" and it would not comment further.

Mr Quinlivan said that putting the squeeze on smaller operators would affect regional and rural communities.

"We service 11 of the 13 regulated passenger routes north of Perth," he said. "These are the less glamorous but critical routes that look after remote communities and tourist destinations."

Mr Quinlivan said that Perth Airport had not offered any alternatives to the airline.

Skippers had invested more than $6 million building its own terminal and state-of-the-art maintenance facilities and there was plenty of space for expansion, Mr Quinlivan said.

What is perplexing Mr Quinlivan is that bigger planes would take pressure off Perth Airport's congested runway.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is investigating Mr Quinlivan's complaint.

Qantas upgrades Perth services

Qantas is adding new planes - with more spacious and luxurious configurations, including flat beds in business class - to its key Melbourne-Perth route in a bid to fight off a challenge from rival Virgin Australia.

The move, while targeting high- flying premium passengers, will also give more room in economy and all passengers will get the very latest in personal seat-back videos.

From October 15, Qantas will take the ageing 254-seat Boeing 767 off most Melbourne-Perth flights and replace them will 235-seat Airbus A330s.

The move comes as Virgin Australia introduces factory-fresh A330s on the Perth to Melbourne route to snare the resources-driven premium traffic.

Qantas has several models of the A330 in different configurations ranging from 235 to 297 seats, while Virgin Australia's have 279 seats.

Qantas Domestic chief executive Lyell Strambi said the changes were a direct response to the growing demand for premium travel to Perth from both business and leisure passengers.

"Qantas will increase A330 services from 44 services per week to 68 services per week replacing flights currently operated by Boeing 767 aircraft," he said.

"Services operated by internationally configured Airbus A330s will increase from 12 per week to 37 per week."

Qantas operates eight daily flights to Melbourne during weekdays and on Sundays.

The internationally configured Airbus A330 aircraft have the award-winning Skybed seats in business class and seat-back in-flight entertainment throughout the business and economy cabins.

Qantas is also reintroducing the popular Boeing 747-400 service on the Sydney-Perth route from July 9. The two-class 747 has flat beds and personal in-flight entertainment throughout.

"Using internationally configured aircraft on domestic routes provides increased comfort on the longer routes between the eastern states and Perth," Mr Strambi said.

Qantas is also set to increase its service from Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth in the US to a daily flight from July 1.

The new frequency will allow Qantas passengers to use Dallas Fort Worth as a link to 60 code-share destinations through OneWorld partner American Airlines.

May: Upgrade for Port Hedland

The Australian Financial Review is reporting a West Australian private equity firm Centauri is teaming up with the major construction company Laing O'Rourke to propose the development and upgrade of Port Hedland airport. The airport will then emerge as a major link to Asia.

The $300 million plan will upgrade Port Hedland airport to cater for air cargo and larger passenger aircraft. The airport is planned to become a major hub in Australia's north west to cut the time to deliver components to the region's resource projects. There is currently $167 billion of projects under way which could be serviced by the airport. A further $151 billion in projects are in the pipeline.

The proposed development will boost the airport's ability to transport the ballooning number of workers to the region which are required for resource projects. About 1 million passengers are forecast to pass through Port Hedland airport by 2025, up from 370 000 that passed through the airport in 2010-11.

Currently there is no dedicated Air Traffic Control Tower service at Port Hedland. Aircraft arriving and departing Port Hedland are provided a traffic advisory service by Air Traffic Controllers based at Melbourne Airport. One of the triggers for the consideration for an Air Traffic Control tower at an Australian airport are passenger numbers greater then 300 000 a year. Port Hedland airport last had a dedicated Air Traffic Control service in the early 1990's with the control tower mothballed after Airservices Australia decided to withdraw the service.

AFR 25 May 2012 for full copy of article

Perth airport passenger number to soar

Perth Airport's annual passenger growth could quadruple to 40 million in the next 17 years - more than double the estimate by the airfield's owners - according to a State Government paper.

The WA State Aviation Strategy Issues Paper, which has just been released for comment, warns that "even that figure, which represents a growth of 7.7 per cent a year, is conservative given over the past five years passenger numbers have soared by 9.2 per cent a year".

Plane movements are also breaking records, increasing by 260 per cent since 1992 to 141,000 a year.

The report warns of the importance of investment in the airport's infrastructure to meet demand but Perth Airport Pty Ltd chief executive Brad Geatches yesterday dismissed the figures.

"The past is not a good indicator of the future and there are very good structural reasons why we expect the annual growth rate to slow materially," he said.

Perth Airport argues that much of the demand has been driven by fly-in, fly-out workers for the construction phase of big projects and demand will peak about 2015.

"The net effect is that FIFO passenger numbers are expected to flatten and, potentially, decrease for a period after construction activity peaks," Mr Geatches said.

He also believed that outbound international growth rates for WA would "slow materially over the next few years".

Construction of a new regional terminal is under way and work on extensions to the international terminal is set to start shortly. But the paper says these will not be adequate for the growth forecasts.

However, one airline executive believes that "past growth patterns are a better indicator of future trends".

"When you put the oil and gas coupled with mining sector projects together, you would have to say that the growth prognosis for the next 20 years will remain very positive," the executive said.

"Perth will eventually be bypassed by direct connections from the Pilbara to the Eastern States as the Perth experience is simply too hard."

Capacity boost for Auckland-Perth alliance services

Air New Zealand and alliance partner Virgin Australia today announced plans to boost capacity on the busy Auckland-Perth route by more than 20% in the upcoming financial year.

From 3 September, Air New Zealand will replace its 234 seat Boeing 767-300 with a 304 seat Boeing 777-200ER aircraft on its non-stop Auckland-Perth service.

The introduction of the 777-200ER on Auckland-Perth adds another 70 seats on each flight and introduces lie-flat Business Premier beds and Premium Economy to the route for the first time.

Air New Zealand Group General Manager Australasia Bruce Parton says Perth is one of the airline’s fastest growing routes, with a significant increase in demand over the past 12 months.

“Western Australia is the fastest-growing economy in Australia and we’ve seen double-digit growth in visitor arrivals from Perth over the past year, with particularly strong growth over the past quarter.

“This has prompted us, in conjunction with our alliance partner Virgin Australia, to review our schedule and capacity to better match that strong demand from travellers on both sides of the Tasman. We’re confident the 777 will be a very popular choice for this route and that bookings will continue to grow as a result.”

Virgin Australia Group Executive of Alliances Network and Yield Merren McArthur said the use of a larger aircraft supported the airline’s strategy of enhancing services to important corporate and leisure destinations.

“As part of the repositioning of Virgin Australia, one of our key focuses has been ensuring that the growing Perth market is adequately served with appropriate capacity and a first-rate product for business travellers. Together with our new Airbus 330 aircraft, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand guests will now have the option of lie-flat beds from Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland into Perth, accompanied by premium Business Class service.”

Both Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia offer a range of different fare choices on the Auckland-Perth route, providing options for everyone from freedom travellers to family holidaymakers and business customers.

More than 80 percent of the 30,000 customers Air New Zealand carried from Perth to Auckland last year were heading to New Zealand for leisure, highlighting the attractiveness of New Zealand as a holiday destination.

Tax inclusive seat fares Auckland-Perth start at NZ$519 one way per person, with seat fares from Perth available from AU$500 one way per person.

Singapore to Broome flights.

Direct flights from Singapore to Broome would service almost 50,000 passengers a year, proponents behind the project said yesterday.

Broome International Airport manager Nick Belyea said the proposed twice-a-week route, to begin by 2015, would use jets able to carry more than 170 passengers, with corporate traffic expected to almost double on the back of Browse gas developments within the first year of operation.

"We're not just talking about Woodside here. We're talking about companies like Shell, ConacoPhillips, and various others," Mr Belyea said.

International tourism would also significantly increase to the Kimberley, and Broome would become a gateway to the rest of the nation, he said.

With Broome just four hours from Singapore, the route would shave seven hours off flights by negating the need to pass through Perth, reducing costs and congestion.

At the Kimberley Economic Forum yesterday, Mr Belyea said plans to upgrade the airport's runway and terminal to international standards, including a new arrivals hall, would be submitted to the shire within months.

A "gateway committee" met this week to consider a business case prepared by consultant ASM-Global after a tender process. The proposal has been backed by Australia's North-West, Tourism WA, the Broome Shire, Kimberley Development Commission and Broome tourism luminaries.

Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar and Skywest had all expressed interest in the new route, Mr Belyea said. Australia's North West chairman Chris Ellison said the route would be a "turning point for tourism in the north" and "a game changer" for the region.

Mr Ellison said the project had already won "green lights" from all levels of government and he urged businesses to back the plan to convince airlines of its economic viability.

"The legacy it could leave for this region and this State is significant," he said. "If this air route is to take place, the time is now."

Broome's last international direct route was to Bali, which failed for a third time in 2001 after attempts in 1996 and 1999 to keep it viable.

However, Singapore was an established "hub and spoke" airport which would connect Broome to the rest of the world, including the growing Chinese tourism market, Mr Belyea said.

Tourism Minister Kim Hames said he was working with Mr Ellison to secure direct flights to open up the region to new tourism markets.

Flip Prior, The West Australian Updated May 3, 2012, 2:10 am

April: Arrival chaos at Perth

Passengers on a Qantas flight from Singapore were forced to wait up to an hour on their plane early yesterday after an almost comedic series of events prevented them from getting off.

Flight QF 78 arrived at Perth Airport at 12.45am but all five aerobridges were being used.

Stairs brought to the 295-seat A330 developed a fault and a replacement set was blocked by a vehicle.

The delay continued when for safety reasons Malaysia Airlines passengers were allowed to board their flight first at an adjacent bay while passengers on QF 78 were forced to wait.

Qantas said its passengers were delayed an hour but Perth Airport claimed it was 45 minutes.

Early Mondays have proved to be the worst time to land at the airport, with seven international flights arriving within 90 minutes.

METRON Traffic Flow at Perth

Metron Traffic Flow commenced operations at Sydney and Perth airports during March. Metron Traffic Flow is a new Air Traffic Flow Management (AFTM) tool which is controlled from the National Operations Centre (NOC).

The system tool to support the Perth procedure was designed originally by graduate Simon Reynolds and then finessed by traffic management officers Bjorn Nielsen and Warren Young.

The system sorts aircraft departure times into a more efficient sequence avoiding runway and taxiway congestion. The program is run the night before the next day’s operations so that ATC and the airlines have the sequencing results at hand.

The purpose of Metron Traffic Flow and the Perth Departure Management Procedure is to minimise airborne delays, holding, minimise taxiing congestion and delays.

Together these benefits translate into shorter flight times, reduced fuel burn and a reduction in environmental emissions.

*****************************************************

Originally Posted by Geoff Thomas

Flights out of Perth's congested airport could be delayed up to 45 minutes from their advertised departure times from tomorrow with the introduction of a schedule co-ordination system to prevent long queues of planes waiting to take-off.

According to air traffic control provider AirServices Australia, the slot system is required because Perth Airport's runways cannot handle demand from fly-in, fly-out flights from Tuesday to Thursday between 5.30am and 8.30am.

The change will mean passengers will spend more time in departure lounges instead of in planes on the tarmac. Airlines will advise the night before of their timetable and AirServices will advise a slot time for push back depending on forecast weather conditions.

Under the system, passengers may find that a 6.30am departure may be delayed up to 45 minutes in a worst case scenario but they should experience no delay once their plane is pushed back from the terminal.

To alleviate congestion at Perth, AirServices started delaying the departure of Perth-bound flights from Sydney and also slowed them up across the country. That system will be extended to Melbourne to Perth flights this year.

Plane movements at Perth Airport have doubled in 10 years and are expected to reach 139,000 this year - years ahead of forecast.

At the current rate, the airport will reach its runway capacity of more than 200,000 flights in and out a year by 2020, but well before that date will be at maximum capacity during the week.

In December the State Government launched a strategy review of WA's aviation sector to ensure policies and infrastructure plans at key airports can meet unprecedented resources-driven growth.

At the launch, Transport Minister Troy Buswell said he wanted to ensure that infrastructure was in place to enable, not impede, growth.

The review will look at key issues such as a third runway at Perth Airport to ease congestion at peak times, strategies to cut airport noise, relocating the airport in the longer term and regional aviation development.

Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches said at the launch of the inquiry that it was willing to look at a third runway.

QANTAS announces Sydney- Newman link

Newman's burgeoning status as an integral mining hub has been confirmed, with Qantas announcing a new direct service between Sydney and the Pilbara town.

The service will use Boeing 737-800s, offering 168 seats, every Tuesday from May 15.

Qantas' WA regional general manager, Ian Gay, said the route would meet demand from regional communities and the State's resources sector.

"Western Australia is a very important market for Qantas and we are always focused on identifying market demands and responding," Mr Gay said.

"This direct service offers a new link between the East Coast and the Pilbara region for both business and leisure travellers."

The service will add to Qantas' 29 services between Perth and Newman each week.

Mode S Radar project

Work is underway to reconfigure the Eclipse Hill RAAF radar and incorporate it into Eurocat as part of the AMSTAR (Autralian Mode S Terminal Area Radar) project.

This AUD$92 million project replaces aging radar equipments in Coolangata, Darwin, Sydney, Adelaide, Cairns, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne with an improved solid state primary radar with a 60nm (111km) range, and a Mode S (select) capable Monopulse Secondary Surveillance Radar with a range of up to 256nm (474km). The new radar technology significantly enhances the ability of air traffic controllers to monitor aircraft in all weather conditions, and allows selective interrogation of individual aircraft. This project includes tower upgrade activities, communication link and ADS-B installation, contractor management and various RFT and purchases of supporting infrastructure.

The work will allow Airservices to decommission the existing Perth terminal area radar (TAR) from mid-July 2012 without the need for the installation of a temporary radar at Caversham.

Project team and IPD partners are currently working towards preparing the RAAF radar to meet requirements of ATC. This will be followed by some tuning and other safety activities, with Eclipse Hill being brought online at the start of July 2012. Progress has been very encouraging.

AMSTAR Project Manager, Lydia Wee, said that this supports the organisation’s investment strategy and better aligns project outcomes with business goals. This exercise also provides the opportunity for Airservices to improve working relationships with the RAAF.

Airshow at Pearce

The Royal Australian Air Force will display a vast array of weapons to highlight its versatility at an air show at RAAF Base Pearce, Bullsbrook, in May.

More than 50,000 visitors are expected at the weekend event on May 18 and 19.

Visitors will see many planes for the first time, including the Boeing Super Hornet, the spy-in-the-sky Boeing Wedgetail, the giant Airbus A330 aerial refuelling tanker and the Boeing C-17 airlifter.

The last air show at Pearce was in 2005.

The Super Hornet, which is 40 per cent bigger than the RAAF's frontline fighter the F-18 Hornet, packs an array of bombs and missiles and is considered one of the most potent bombers in service because of its radar capability, reliability and sophisticated weapons systems.

The new RAAF A330 tanker is a military version of the 300- seat A330 operated by Qantas.

It has only just entered service and can carry 134,000 litres of fuel - enough for more than 2200 standard cars or a dozen Super Hornets on a typical mission.

Another showstopper will be the C-17 Globemaster, the world's most capable airlifter.

It can carry either 134 troops, the biggest battle tank, six armoured vehicles or 77,000kg of cargo.

Visitors will also get a look, although not too close, at the world's most sophisticated surveillance and control plane, the $600 million Wedgetail.

A heavily modified Boeing 737, the Wedgetail sports a radar on top of the fuselage that can simultaneously track 3000 targets in the air and on the ground.

It can find airborne targets up to 400km away while monitoring ground threats up to 100km away and can destroy incoming missiles with laser beams.

The RAAF expects the US Air Force to participate in the show and some commercial planes may also take part.

March: Perth passenger growth continues

The number of international passengers increased by 7 per cent to 27.6 million pasengers whilst domestic numbers were up 6 per cent to 54 million passengers. Sydney continuse to be the busiest airport with nearly 36 million pasengers, up 4.4 per cent. Perth recorded the biggest increase. Passenger numbers at Perth increased 9 per cent to 11 million.

Mr Albanese noted Australia's aviation industry supports 50,000 jobs and injects $5 billion into the Australian economy each year.

The data used was derived from the Avline 2010-11 report which is available at www.bitre.gov.au. Avline is a publication by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). Avline provides a summary of Aviation related data drawing on a range of sources including BITRE, ABS, Airservices and the US Energy Information Administration.

It should be noted while the number of passengers have increased over the last nine years, the number of Air Traffic Controllers has remained relatively static.

Meanwhile...

Perth Airport will make big changes to its main runway to let planes fly higher over houses and cut associated noise.

The changes and a new scheduling plan will also increase the number of flights by almost one-third to 48 an hour in peak times, which will help the booming fly-in, fly-out resources sector traffic.

Currently planes position for take-off on the main runway from a series of taxiways, some up to one-third down the length.

This means that planes are often 300m lower, and noisier, than they would have been if they had started their take-off from the end of the runway.

Under the plan, called the Perth Airport Domestic Departure Allocation System, the tarmac area at both ends of the main runway will be expanded to allow controllers to separate the flights at the runway ends.

The concept to alleviate noise was first suggested in _The West Australian _ a year ago.

It will be introduced in September and will require some flights to be rescheduled by up to 20 minutes in a worst case scenario to better match both plane types and destinations into the air traffic control system.

The allocation system, combined with an AirServices Australia initiative called the Airspace Capacity Enhancement project, will improve runway efficiency and make best use of existing infrastructure.

Responding to concerns from some operators, Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches assured smaller airlines that they would not be squeezed out by the new system.

But he admitted there would be a bias to bigger planes during peak times with the extra slots that would become available.

Mr Geatches said the airport would have a better idea of what extra infrastructure was needed, such as a third runway, once the new system was in place.

ATSB launches air traffic control failure study

March 2, 2012 by Ben Sandilands

The ATSB has swung into action over the sharp rise in air traffic control incidents in Australia.

An Aviation Research investigation into breakdown of separation (BOS) and loss of separation assurance (LOSA) occurrences in Australia was initiated on 21 February 2012. This investigation will document aspects of all BOS and LOSA occurrences between 2008 and 2011, and will analyse related occurrence investigations to identify any common underlying safety issues.

A report has not yet been released for this investigation.

There are have been some highly critical reports already made by the safety investigator involving large airliners in Australian airspace, and even two that were in oceanic airspace under Australian control.

In some of those reports the ATSB has drawn attention to the incomplete training or recurrent training deficiencies in air traffic controllers.

These incidents include a controller who despite adverse assessment during training, had been turned loose on one of the busiest parts of the skies, and all but completely lost the plot as a conflict arose between an Emirates 777 and a Qantas 737 over Victoria in 2009. This incident, in which AirServices Australia came close to killing 443 people, is but one of a string of shocking service failures on the part of the air traffic control provider.

The ATSB study will be welcomed by the airlines, as the chief pilot of Qantas, and the CEOs of Virgin Blue and a past CEO of Tiger have all expressed substantial concerns about the risks of poor air traffic control in Australian airspace in various public comments.

This study would not have been undertaken without the specific direction and approval of the Aviation Minister, Anthony Albanese, and the fact that it has been launched means that AirServices Australia is on very short notice to improve its performance.

For students of public administration, it also means that in the event of a disaster the Minister can be seen to have been sufficiently concerned to have been instrumental in taking action prior to the event.

February: Virgin/Skywest alliance.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has given interim approval to an expanded alliance between Virgin Australia and Skywest aimed at tapping demand from the resources and mining industries. The alliance, offering bundled passenger services to businesses wanting a combination of charter, domestic and international flights, represents an effort by Virgin to step up its competition with Qantas in the booming resource sector in Western Australia

January 24: Virgin drama

Tape: http://wan-info.anittel.net/westonline/airliner-s-mid-air-drama-revealed/audio/v697.mp3

The pilots of a Virgin passenger airliner dangerously low on fuel considered landing at Rottnest Island or Jandakot after freak high winds forced them to abort a landing at Perth Airport.

The air drama, captured on audio transcript of conversations between Virgin Flight 697 and air traffic control obtained from Aviationadvertising.com, shows the 167-seat Boeing 737 was minutes from running out of fuel as pilots struggled to land the jet because of severe turbulence and cross winds at Perth Airport on January 3.

On his second approach to land that evening, the captain was asked by air traffic control of his intentions if unsuccessful.

He replied: "Er, we have to get on the ground on this approach."

Virgin Australia Flight 697 from Melbourne had been circling, unable to land, for at least 45 minutes.

Airservices Australia said pilots of many planes were forced to abort landing attempts that day because winds rolling off the hills from the east-south-east were gusting up to 158km/h just 80m above the ground and 60km/h on the runway.

Some planes were diverted to Geraldton.

Air traffic controllers offered the Virgin pilots Gingin, Pearce, Jandakot or Rottnest as options, because their runways were better aligned to the wind direction.

Because of the severe cross-winds, well above plane's design tolerance for landing, the main long Runway 21 was closed and planes were forced to use the much shorter Runway 06 for landing.

Strong winds also caused severe turbulence, making it difficult to get the plane stable for landing.

The freak conditions slowed the landing process, requiring controllers to put planes into long holding patterns, burning up fuel.

Planes burn considerably more fuel at lower altitudes and in holding patterns.

A Virgin Australia spokesman said that on arrival in Perth, Flight 697 had sufficient fuel to reach an alternate airport, although fuel to reach an alternative destination was not required to meet the regulatory requirement.

"However, the crew made the decision that the weather in Perth was not sufficiently adverse to warrant a diversion," he said.

"An extended holding period, due to traffic congestion caused by the weather, subsequently resulted in a circumstance where the crew was committed to landing at Perth."

The aircraft was scheduled to arrive at 9.40pm and landed at 10.27pm.

"There's also an east-west runway at Rottnest Island but it's pretty short as well," the controller says in the transcript.

"Yeah copied that, we had a look at Pearce, it's got about 1600m," the captain says.

During this period there were at least six other aborted landings by other planes.

Typically, planes must carry additional fuel to cover stronger than forecast headwinds, plus as holding fuel for about 45 minutes.

December 25: Perth airport demand soars.

The West Australian forecast at current growth rates, Perth Airport will reach 134,000 plane movements this financial year - about five years ahead of forecast. The West Australian estimate 12.4 million passengers will pass through Perth Airport, up nearly 9.5 per cent on the previous year. Perth Airport's 2009 Master Plan forecast 169,000 movements by 2029 but at current growth rates it will hit that figure in 2015. Perth Air Traffic Control have forecasted based on the number of movements for the first 5 months of the 2011/2012 financial year the number of movements will be closer to 150,000.

The spectacular growth is fuelled by the states resources boom. Operators are not opting for larger aircraft to service the regional fly in, fly out (FIFO) market due to infrastucture constraints. In fact, of the 88 purely FIFO airports in regional WA, only one - Cloudbreak in the Pilbara - has the runway length and strength to accommodate a 180-seat Boeing 737.

This week will see Qantas subsidiary, Network Aviation, take delivery of the first of 10 new F-100 jet aircraft to assist with the increasing demand.

The WA state government Transport Minister Troy Buswell recently announced a review, to be conducted by the Department of Transport, to examine every aspect of aviation, which he termed a catalyst for WA's development. The review will look at key issues such as a third runway at Perth Airport to ease congestion at peak times, strategies to cut airport noise, relocating the airport in the longer term and regional aviation development. There has been growing concern in the resources industry and from airlines that at current growth rates, Perth Airport's expansion plans will fall short of demand.

The review will go further than just airports and will investigate new developments in aircraft such as the Boeing 787 which has been ordered by many airlines, including Qantas. The terms of reference are currently being defined and a report to Government is expected by June 2012.

*******************************

Perth Airport's annual growth rate of nearly 10 per cent a year is not only the fastest in Australia but among the fastest in the world for a major capital city outside of China.

And rather than opt for bigger planes, operators are staying with the current sizes as most of the regional fly-in, fly-out airports in the State have limited runway length. In fact, of the 88 purely FIFO airports in regional WA, only one - Cloudbreak in the Pilbara - has the runway length and strength to accommodate a 180-seat Boeing 737.

The rest are limited to 50 to 100-seat planes.

At current growth rates, Perth Airport will reach 134,000 plane movements this financial year - about five years ahead of forecast.

And those planes will carry 12.4 million passengers, up nearly 9.5 per cent on the previous year.

Perth Airport's 2009 Master Plan forecast 169,000 movements by 2029 but at current growth rates it will hit that figure in 2015.

And the additional planes and flights show no signs of slowing.

Next week, the first of 10 100-seat Fokker 100 jets arrive for Network Aviation to support increased FIFO operations.

Last month, Qantas added significant capacity to its WA operations with 10 additional return flights to five destinations adding 3466 seats per week.

To provide the new capacity Qantas added a 737-800 to its Perth based fleet - the second 737-800 to be added to the Perth fleet in 2011.

Well over 100 planes call Perth Airport home and parking is at a premium on the domestic apron.

GEOFFREY THOMAS

December 23: CASA airspace repots

CASA has released two reports relating to Perth and Regional South-west (aka West Radar):

• http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/lib100077/southwest-aero-review.pdf

• http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/lib100077/perth-aero-study.pdf