The preliminary airspace and flight paths as presented in the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) have been authorised by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.

The Minister has announced the Australian Government's commitment to implement operational measures to mitigate against aircraft noise, particularly at night.

You can read the Minister's release here.

The final WSI airspace and flight path design Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was published in November 2024. You can view the final EIS here.

Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport flight path design for single runway operations

The new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport (WSI) is on track to open for domestic and international passengers and freight by late 2026.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts finalised the WSI airspace and flight paths design Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in accordance with the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) and published it in November 2024. It can be viewed here.

The final EIS includes five changes to the preliminary flight paths that were presented in the draft EIS. These changes are included in the online Aircraft Overflight Noise Tool, which can be viewed on this site.

In June 2025, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government announced that the preliminary airspace and flight paths outlined within the final EIS had been authorised to proceed to the detailed design phase.

As part of this authorisation, the Minister has accepted conditions to be attached to the WSI airspace and flight paths, recommended by the former Minister for the Environment and Water. The conditions can be viewed here.

The Minister also announced the Australian Government's commitment to implementing additional operational measures to reduce impacts on communities.

The operational measures include:

  • the prioritisation of 'Reciprocal Runway Operations' (RRO) mode, or 'head-to-head' operations where aircraft take-off to, and arrive from, the southwest, and the 'Reciprocal Runway Operations – Noise Abatement Procedure' (RRO-NAP) at night when safe to do so, and
  • establishing a community engagement forum to monitor and resolve aircraft noise and flight path issues in the early years of operation.

You can view the full announcement in the Minister's media release.

The Western Sydney Airport Plan sets out WSI's airspace and flight path design process. The next steps are detailed design and implementation and these phases will be led by Airservices Australia.

Visit Engage Airservices for more information and to sign up to receive project updates.

Further details on the operational measures will be announced in due course.