Vocal few raise aircraft noise complaints

Airservices Australia CEO Greg Russell has told a Senate committee hearing that more than half of the 24,000 noise complaints received by the ATC provider came from only 20 individuals.

Russell noted that two-thirds of complaints received in Perth were from the same two people, while one-third of complaints in Sydney came from one person. “There’s a large disparity between the number of complaints and the number of complainants at some of these locations,” he said.

Russell admitted at the hearing that Airservices and the industry needed to better communicate with the community about changes to air routes and the benefits of new navigation technologies where aircraft noise has become an issue in recent years. “I think, frankly, if the industry doesn’t do that adequately, I see the opportunity for terrific technology that can help not just safety … not being successful,” he said. “And I think that would be a great shame.”