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Brisbane to build $72m multi-use aeromedical base

written by Hannah Dowling | April 11, 2022

An aerial look at Brisbane Airport's domestic and international terminals. (Brisbane Airport)
An aerial look at Brisbane Airport’s domestic and international terminals. (Brisbane Airport)

A new $72 million aeromedical base is set to be built at Brisbane Airport, including aircraft hangars, an administration building, and basic medical facilities, aiding the state’s capacity for regional patient and donor transfers throughout Queensland.

The new precinct, dubbed the Queensland Regional Aeromedical Base, will soon house aircraft and resources for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, LifeFlight, and Queensland Health.

The 14,000 square metre site will reportedly sit between the two parallel runways on the northern end of the airport, near the current RFDS base.

However, Brisbane Airport said the new combined aeromedical base, due to be completed by April 2023, will see all air ambulance providers better equipped to provide quicker, more efficient assistance across Queensland.

Brisbane Airport Corporation said it was working with the state government, the RFDS, and LifeFlight to finalise a plan for the new base, which will also need to receive the green light from the federal government.

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The airport said the construction of the facility will create an estimated 200 jobs, and the precinct itself will contribute $100 million per year to the Queensland economy.

Brisbane Airport Corporation chief executive Gert-Jan de Graaff said with over half of Queensland’s population living outside the greater Brisbane area, the new precinct will support emergency response teams’ ability to reach all corners of the state as quickly as possible.

“As the heart of the Queensland network for patient retrieval and medical transfers, the Queensland Regional Aeromedical Base at Brisbane Airport will enhance the network of aeromedical bases located throughout regional Queensland,” he said.

“Minutes can quite literally be the difference between life and death when it comes to aeromedical services.

“(The base) will provide critical medical care to Queenslanders who live outside of Greater Brisbane.

de Graaff said the airport offered an unparalleled aeromedical address with the size and flexibility needed to deliver the base.

“Brisbane Airport is the logical choice for such a facility, providing the quickest possible response time to get planes and helicopters in the air and on their way to the regions and bring patients into Queensland’s major hospitals.”

The news comes one week after multiple Brisbane MPs promised Brisbane Airport’s flight paths will be “ripped up and redrawn”, in a major win for residents fighting against increased aircraft noise pollution.

In a joint statement, the MPs pledged to introduce all recommended changes to flight paths and airport operations, as proposed in an interim report under Airservices Australia’s post-implementation review of the airport’s newly introduced flight paths.

Federal Minister for Brisbane Trevor Evans said a total of 49 changes to flight paths would be introduced “immediately” in order to mitigate aircraft noise for inner-city residents, who collectively made nearly 10,000 complaints to Airservices Australia about noise pollution since July 2020.

It comes after residents of inner-city Brisbane suburbs spent months lobbying and protesting against excessive aircraft noise pollution over their homes following the introduction of Brisbane’s second parallel runway.

The airport opened its new parallel runway in July 2020, and simultaneously implemented a slew of new flight paths that residents have since stated do not meet the expectations set in consultation with the community prior to the runway’s approval.

It also comes after Airservices Australia revealed during Senate estimates this weekend that it had received 9,727 complaints between 12 July 2020 and 28 February 2022 from residents across 169 suburbs of Greater Brisbane.

The changes, once implemented, will see “considerably” more flights taking off and landing over Moreton Bay, as opposed to the city, while aircraft will also perform steeper take-offs and descents to reduce the amount of noise, among other solutions.

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