The Challenge

To enable the new Western Sydney Airport, a new Airspace Design is being developed for the Sydney Basin. The project is the biggest airspace change in Australian history, including all airspace delivery and air traffic service provision safety matters from the airspace and flight path design meeting national and international safety standards to implementation of both air traffic control and support services for 3 air traffic centres and 5 Sydney basin airports, including Sydney International and RAAF Richmond.

What We Did

Plan Safe is building the safety and Human Factors case for the new design to enable safe and efficient move of air traffic once the new airport is operational. We are responsible for managing the entire safety program for the new airspace design, including development of quantitative analysis techniques to ensure the safety of the new airspace.

We are also responsible for safety approvals from the national regulator for both Design and implementation. Our consultants have also provided Human Factors workload assessment and task analysis based on extensive simulator exercises using the new Airspace design.

The Outcome

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Planning for the opening of the new airport in late 2026 is on track, and the management of the airspace change is ongoing, including all stakeholders; CASA, Department of Infrastructure, and WSA Co. Findings delivered so far have been incorporated into an updated Airspace Design, improving safety and efficiency for the future.