Red-eyes a bone of contention

WA’s environment authority is preparing to cast a verdict on Busselton-Margaret River Regional Airport’s noise management plan as surrounding residents question the viability of plans to draw interstate flights.

The Environmental Protection Authority’s ruling will determine whether the current flight-time restrictions from 10pm-6am for charter aircraft and 11pm and 6pm for passenger flights will be lifted.

City of Busselton community and commercial services director Naomi Searle said 24-hour flights would allow flexibility in attracting services to Busselton, but Reinscourt resident and tourism professional of more than 30 years, Peter Keynes, said his industry experience cast doubt on the plan’s viability.

“The City is pushing for night flights because they believe it’s the only way they will attract any airlines, because they haven’t attracted any yet,” he said.

“They can say to airlines, ‘why don’t you use a plane sitting overnight in Melbourne, fly it into Margaret River and turn it into a new route?’.

“But I say we should stiffen our backbones a little and impose a curfew like so many other airports.

“We’re a premium destination and we don’t need to be crawling on our hands and knees and allowing red-eye flights over residential areas just to get planes to come here.”

As part of the State Government’s business case for airport upgrades, the City of Busselton engaged aviation specialists to assess demand and viability.

The report dismissed a Perth-to-Busselton route, but did identify interstate services to Sydney and Melbourne as viable.

Ms Searle said the City was not “pushing” red-eye flights, though discussions with airlines indicated night services could be most effective in establishing the route.

“However, it is expected that these would move to day services over time once demand for the new route was established,” she said.

Mr Keynes and fellow Reinscourt resident Graeme Cotterill have been campaigning against the curfew’s removal on behalf of about 35 nearby residents.

Mr Cotterill questioned whether demand was high enough to warrant all-hours flights.

“I struggle to see how there would be enough people interested that they would be able to fill planes day and night,” he said.

Margaret River-Busselton Tourism Association chief executive Pip Close said the latest visitor statistics indicated high demand for interstate flights.

“Ultimately, domestic flight routes will only be secured if the airlines can see strong evidence that there is a potential market, and this is something that is currently being explored with a number of airlines by the City of Busselton, Tourism Western Australia, Australia’s South West, with MRBTA in full support,” she said.

As part of the airport expansions, the City issued an amended Noise Management Plan for public comment in March this year.

The City approved the amended Noise Management Plan and submitted it, along with other aspects of the proposal, to the EPA in July.