60 Reasons to Protest: Reason #32 – Airport Capacity Declaration
One of BFPCA’s eight key demands is to demand that Minister Catherine King issues an Airport Capacity Declaration for Brisbane Airport of 45 flights an hour as provided for under the Airports Act 1996, Section 195, in order to provide Brisbane families and communities with certainty about the maximum number of flights to expect in a given day as well as into the future.
An Airport Capacity Declaration is a legal instrument that allows the Australian Government to regulate the capacity of certain designated airports in Australia. The capacity of an airport is determined by the number of aircraft movements that can take place at the airport within a given period of time, and can also impose conditions on airport operators to ensure that they comply with the declared capacity limit.
Sydney Airport is the only capital airport with such a movement cap. It is set to 80 flights an hour. This was not enacted through the Airports Act 1996 but through the dedicated Sydney Airport Demand Management Act 1997 (Section 6) as the legislative mechanism limiting the number of movements at Sydney Airport.
No declarations have ever been made by any Minister to date under section 195 of the Airports Act since it came into effect in 1996.
What was the intent of the lawmakers? Why would the Australian Parliament pass a law that includes instruments designed to protect communities when those same instruments have never been used? Let’s put them to good use!
Join the BFPCA protest and demand Catherine King MP does her job of protecting communities from excessive noise pollution by making an Airport Capacity Declaration for Brisbane Airport.
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