VA562 misses Sydney curfew but lines up for approach anyway

[jase05]

I believe the Bae146 is also approved, even though its a jet. Hence why they use them as freighters. This may have changed but it certainly was the case

Yes, our 146’s are approved but even that is nowhere near satisfactory for us and is costing us substantially so hence why WSI can’t come quick enough

 

[SeaWolf]

There's a list of the exemptions on the DoT's website:

Curfew at Sydney Airport

Summary of Key Features The Curfew Sydney Airport has a curfew in place that applies to aircraft operations between 11.00 pm and 6.00 am (local time).

www.infrastructure.gov.au

I have been on a delayed flight that took advantage of this exemption and took off a few minutes after 11pm.

Any aircraft that received taxi clearance from Air Traffic Control (ATC) before the curfew period starts.

If that was the case, why doesn't QantasLink run Q400 flights to/from SYD after 11pm? (Assuming there would be demand)

Looking at the MTOW of the Dash-8 Q400, I think that QantasLink probably could get the necessary noise certs and operate them after the curfew, but given their regional range it's probably not practical in demand terms. Who wants to fly down to Canberra at 11:30pm and arrive after midnight? There might be a handful of people if it was cheap enough, but certainly not enough to make it commercially viable.

 

[Quickstatus]

To the best of my knowledge, the Sydney ‘curfew’ is actually a ‘jet ban’

No, the curfew restricts aircraft movements to:
1) Propellor and Jet aircraft which comply with the noise restrictions in the Act and are under 34Tons MTOW
2) Any aircraft given taxi clearance prior to curfew period starts
3) Any energency aircraft
4) Any aircraft given Ministerial dispensation

5) freight aircraft -cbut they can only be BAe 146 4 engine jets

A Q400 MTOW is under 34Tons. So theoretically possible. However where are you going to get the aircraft and the crew from at that time of the day. 3 will be needed for a 737-800. That would mean 3 airframes and 3 crew would need to be on call, and if they are stood up they may well impact on the nextday's scheduled services.

In any case it is moot because when WSI is built, these exceptions will cease to exist as per the provisions in the Sydney Airport Curfew Act 1995