Reporter's deidentified concern
The reporter has raised a safety concern in relation to arrival routes into Bankstown following recent Sydney Basin airspace changes.
The reporter operates a high-performance aircraft (business jet) and believes the arrival routes into Bankstown both from the north and from the south-west are not practical with the requirement to be less than 2,000 ft above ground level (AGL) 25 NM from the arrival airport.
The reporter states, 'Bankstown is not just an airport for small piston aircraft. There are many turbine powered aircraft arriving into Bankstown every day coming in from flight levels. It does not make sense to force a jet outside controlled airspace at low level and force them to continue descent and then put them back into a Class D radar environment at 2,000 ft'.
The reporter queries why the old arrival routes into Bankstown cannot be reinstated immediately for pressurised aircraft especially with minimal operations currently at the new Western Sydney International airport.
The reporter proposed an immediate change for pressurised aircraft in order to safely plan the following routes into Bankstown:
From the south-west: DARGI NOLEM ESGID (waypoints) in Class C airspace.
From the north: Old route through RIC (now STUIE) ISMER in Class C airspace. This route keeps aircraft clear of Sydney Kingsford Smith airport (YSSY) runway 16L/R arrivals. This avoids the possibility of enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) issues on the current Z88 route, that could force high-performance aircraft back into Class C potentially into the path of a jet arriving into YSSY.
The reporter acknowledged they have recently received some good feedback from Air Traffic Controllers (ATC). 'They (ATC) are clearly seeing the issues, and it would appear they are starting to try methods to improve safety for aircraft operating in this newly designed airspace'.
The reporter finally advised they will continue to request ATC provide alternative routes other than the current unsafe low-level arrivals when operating into Bankstown.
Named party's response
Airservices acknowledges the feedback on tracking via Z88 from the north at an altitude of 2,000 ft AMSL and the concerns around arrivals from the South.
Flights at 2,000 ft AMSL in that area are compliant with PART91 and offer the necessary clearance with surrounding terrain.
The constraints of the airspace require vertical separation from the YSSY RWY16 sequence which may see YSSY arriving aircraft as low as 3,000 ft AMSL in the areas between Bankstown and Hornsby prior to a base turn and intercept final for RWY16R, hence a descent to 2,000 ft on Z88 is necessary to ensure safety. Additionally, YSSY departures off RWY34L require separation assurance in the same area.
The introduction of a large airport West of Bankstown, plus the redesign of R481 north west of Richmond (YSRI) have removed the previous options into Bankstown via 'Q155 RIC V11 BK' (previous FPR for BK arrivals from the North).
The transit via Z88 is a transit inside Controlled Airspace from waypoint OMUVU and does not restrict altitude requests or deviations off track which are assessed and accommodated by the controller depending on surrounding traffic to/from YSBK, YSRI, YSSY, YXWS, YSCN and of course YSWS.
Airservices is currently working on additional options for high performance aircraft into YSBK taking into consideration:
- YSBK and YSCN VFR traffic,
- Defence priorities,
- Separation with YSSY SIDs and STARS,
- YXWS procedures,
- YSWS SIDs, STARS, Approaches and missed approaches.
Once testing and safety reviews are complete, we expect to be able to publish additional options via the appropriate channels.
Regulator's response
CASA has reviewed this REPCON and responds:
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, and the Arts, and Airservices undertook a program of industry consultation during the design phases and in the lead up to the implementation of the airspace change.
Following the implementation of the changes industry have provided feedback about several concerns about the airspace changes in the Sydney Basin including the issue raised in the ATSB REPCON RA2026-00118 [not yet finalised].
Ahead of Post Implementation Review actions, CASA has requested Airservices to develop and implement an interim flight planning solution for high-performance aircraft, particularly pressurised turbine-powered IFR operations, arriving at Bankstown Airport from the north and to ensure that the interim solution permits such aircraft to remain within controlled airspace for longer during the arrival phase than provided for under the current flight planning requirements.
ATSB comment
The ATSB REPCON confidential reporting scheme has received a number of submissions detailing safety concerns relating to the operation of high-performance turbine powered aircraft conducting IFR arrivals into Bankstown Airport from the north.
These submissions relate to the airspace design changes introduced on 9 July 2026 and generally centre upon the tightened vertical and lateral constraints imposed for separation from controlled airspace and VFR operations.
The concerns convey the common perception that these tightened navigational constraints and requirements create significant additional safety risk, through the increased likelihood of:
- unintended airspace infringements
- separation issues with other aircraft
- separation issues with terrain and obstacles
Ahead of the post-implementation review, the ATSB encourages all parties responsible for the safety of aircraft operations within this airspace to consider the concerns raised within this and all related REPCONs in the context of their areas of control.
REPCON details
| Date reported | 30/08/2026 |
|---|---|
| Published date | 09/10/2026 |
| Affected operation/industry | Airspace |
| Concern subject type | Design |
| Transport mode | Aviation |