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Airport ground delays hit their lowest level in over a year last month, according to air traffic management body Airservices Australia.
In its Australian Aviation Network Overview report for September 2024, Airservices pointed to favourable weather conditions as one factor in the reduction of total ground delay hours, which were 322 for September – an average of just over 10 hours per day across the whole network.
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“Only 0.1 per cent of total network flight delays were attributed to Airservices, with 0.2 per cent of flights impacted by capacity constraints,” the report added.
“Ground delay hours were at the lowest level in more than a year, with no Airservices-attributable ground delay at major East Coast airports in September. This reflects ongoing service performance enhancements and a focus on resilience leading into the September school holidays.
“Overall, air traffic service variations were limited to fewer airspace groups and air traffic control towers. At control towers, service variations reduced by 61 per cent primarily due to Avalon tower returning to published hours.
“Ensuring the consistency of service remains our key priority through measures such as active recruitment, tighter leave management practices, improved training pass rates and recruitment strategies, and building resilient rosters.”
Weather was still the main driving factor for air traffic management delays last month, followed by the impact of airport infrastructure projects such as runway works, and demand “exceeding allocated slot parameters at Perth”.
“There were no Airservices-attributable air traffic management delays at Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane in September 2024, reflecting ongoing improvements in service performance and a particular focus on resilience leading into the September school holidays,” the report read.
Speaking at the inaugural 2024 Australian Aviation Summit in August, new Airservices interim CEO Rob Sharp had signalled a focus on innovation at the ATC provider, saying the sector is “at a really critical time for the future of aviation” and pointing to air traffic management as “the third leg of the stool” alongside airlines and airports.
“The way we think about airspace is evolving as we get more and more demands from organisations wanting to use airspace. We need to adapt for the future in a way that’s safe but also sustainable and balances the needs for all users,” he said.
Sharp pointed to a trial of user-preferred routing on 38 scheduled routes, as well as the Flight Information Management System (FIMS) to manage drone traffic; digital aerodrome services, which will launch next year at Canberra Airport and be integrated into Western Sydney International Airport when it opens in 2026, and the OneSKY-CMATS program to unify civil and military air traffic management across Australia as being major innovation initiatives at Airservices.
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