Reporter's deidentified concern
The reporter has raised safety concerns following the recent changes to the Sydney Basin airspace.
An experienced airline and corporate jet pilot has raised the following concerns, specifically arrival procedures from the north into Bankstown (YSBK) based on recent experience.
Planning
En Route Supplement Australia (ERSA) requires planning via waypoint YAKKA (located 45 NM north-north-west of Sydney Kingsford Smith airport) where the reporter was recently advised to be outside controlled airspace (OCTA) at 7,000 ft with over 50 NM to Bankstown. The reporter advised this not only invalidates the fuel plan 'flight/trip fuel', it also greatly exposes the operation to unnecessary risk.
Aircraft separation
The reporter states, airway Z88 (which goes straight through the VFR light aircraft lane) potentially conflicts with VFR aircraft with and without transponders. The reporter is concerned that should they receive a TCAS climb RA, it would put them very close to Sydney airport (Kingsford Smith) runway 16L/R arrivals.
Separation with terrain
For well over 20 NM there is only about 1,000 ft separation with terrain and Class C airspace. The reporter is concerned that in rough weather with strong winds over the hills there is the potential for some GPWS problems. Furthermore, the reporter is concerned of potential bird strikes while travelling at 250 knots at low altitude on approach to Bankstown.
Unfavourable weather
The reporter states, 'if there is any weather that requires a deviation off the airway, the minimum off-route altitude (MORA) is over 3,500 ft, further adding complexity and reducing options. The current arrival route has not been designed for high-performance corporate jets making it completely unsafe'.
Suggested mitigation of the above concerns
The reporter's suggestion is for operators of high-performance aircraft arriving at YSBK from the north, to plan via Richmond (YSRI) and have the air traffic controllers laterally separate with Western Sydney airport (YSWS) movements as they do in all other parts of the world with moderately busy airspace.
Named party's response
Airservices acknowledges the feedback on tracking via Z88 from the north at an altitude of 2,000 ft AMSL.
Flights at 2,000 ft AMSL in that area are compliant with PART91 and offer the necessary clearance with surrounding terrain. ERSA GEN-FPR is also very explicit regarding the expected altitudes for the transit in Z88, this was done to assist crews in their fuel and operational planning.
The constraints of the airspace require vertical separation from the Sydney Airport (YSSY) runway (RWY)16 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 requests for 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. We would also like to note IFR aircraft are provided with a Controlled Airspace service by Bankstown approach as per Class D airspace requirements south of OMUVU.
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 | 03/09/2026 |
|---|---|
| Published date | 09/10/2026 |
| Affected operation/industry | Airspace |
| Concern subject type | Design |
| Transport mode | Aviation |