YBCG Air Traffic Operations Gold Coast Airport consists of two intersecting runways in the directions 14/32 magnetic and 17/35 magnetic. Figure 1: Gold Coast Airport Aerodrome Chart (Source: Airservices Australia) Noise Abatement or landing is permitted under Part 3 of the A curfew at Gold Coast airport prevents Air Navigation (Coolangatta Airport most passenger carrying aircraft from Curfew) Regulations 1999. The preferred taking off or landing between the hours of runway for noise abatement during all 11pm and 6am. An aircraft must not take hours is runway 14. off from, or land at, Gold Coast airport during a curfew period, unless the take-off (Changes to the previous version have been highlighted in yellow) Version 4.0 Terminal Area (TMA) Nomination Of Runways This term is used to describe the The nomination of runway is determined designated area of controlled airspace by Air Traffic Control (ATC) using a surrounding a major airport where there is preferred runway or take-off direction. a high volume of traffic. The Terminal ATC shall not nominate a particular Area (TMA) is a 30nm semi circle from runway for use if an alternative runway is north-west to south-west. available, when: Table 2: Runway Wind Thresholds Dry Wet Crosswind >20kts >20kts Downwind >5kts >0kts (*Please note that thresholds relate to sustained wind gusts as well as mean wind speeds.) If possible, aircraft will take off and land with a head wind. A tail wind on landing is acceptable up to 5 knots on a dry runway. Tail winds are unacceptable on wet Figure 2: Gold Coast Airspace runways. When departing with a tail wind, (Source: Airservices Australia) the take-off distance increases so the runway length is important. For Jet arrivals at Gold Coast airport When there is a crosswind component corridors to the N and S are critical; exceeding 20 knots, an alternative landing whereas a corridor to the E is important runway should be planned except where for Turbo Prop aircraft. the crosswind components exceed 20kts for both runway options. Departures and Arrivals and Departures arrivals do not have to occur on the same The responsibility for aircraft arrivals and runway. departures at Gold Coast airport is held Landing and take-off distances differ by a dedicated controller in Brisbane with aircraft-type, weight, atmospheric Terminal Control Unit (TCU). pressure and temperature. The active runway will have to be able to A staffed control tower at the gold coast accommodate the majority of traffic. The operates outside of curfew hours. In RWY17/35 is not suitable for this. curfew hours the class C airspace (controlled airspace surrounding major airports where an ATC clearance is required) around the Gold Coast lifts to be Forecasting for Gold Coast Airport above 3500ft. Forecasters for Gold Coast airport can contact NOCMET for information on the Runway Direction operational effect caused by a TAF It is important to remember that although amendment. Alternatively, forecasters runway direction is annotated in magnetic may contact Brisbane Approach or Gold co-ordinates, wind direction is reported in Coast Tower directly if the need arises. degrees true. The conversion for Gold Air Traffic Controllers are encouraged to Coast airport is as follows: contact forecasters when the need arises. Table 1: Gold Coast Runway Direction Peak Times Conversion Table Generally peak demand for traffic Runway Magnetic True movements at Gold Coast airport occurs between 6-7am for departures and after 140 139 150 1200noon for arrivals. 170 173 184 There is additional pressure on 320 319 330 controllers in the early morning when 350 353 004 internationals without Required Navigation Performance (RNP) capability *Please note that you refer to a runway try to land in adverse weather. direction as it is being travelled on. Using Circuit training within Gold Coast RWY14 means landing and departing airspace is restricted between1200- towards the SE. This is the opposite of 2000LST due to high movements at the reported wind direction but in general airport. results in the runway in use being aligned to the wind direction. (Changes to the previous version have been highlighted in yellow) Version 4.0 Wind Forecasts The ability to forecast organised The TAF can be used by forecasters to thunderstorms in these areas can provide routinely provide information about Airservices the capability to re-route significant wind changes that affect ATC aircraft and minimise delays. runway decisions. Accurately forecasting a strong cross Fog wind on a runway is important in planning. Fog events at Gold Coast airport are very Wind is specifically critical at Gold Coast rare occurring maybe once every ten airport due to the single runway years. availability for jet aircraft. Strong Fog observed at YBCG is tactically crosswinds can cause an increase in managed in the Brisbane TCU. The workload at Brisbane airport but due to inability to access low visibility capacity at Brisbane it is more likely navigational aids at Gold Coast airport aircraft will be forced to divert to usually means that most aircraft are Newcastle or Rockhampton. required to find an alternate aerodrome. Thunderstorms at YBCG Cloud/Visibility Thunderstorm cells identified on Low cloud and/or reduced visibility on ATSAS/ATIFS within 10nm of Gold Coast approach will necessitate the use of an airport affect the ability of aircraft to land instrument approach when a visual and the provision of services to aircraft reference with the runway is not available. once on the ground. The movements of Gold Coast airport is unique in that there aircraft into and out of bays are affected is no Instrument Landing System (ILS) due to ramp closures and the removal of available to aircraft yet. Therefore cloud ground staff from the tarmac. and visibility have a large effect on aircraft Airline WHS regulations require the arrival at Gold Coast airport. removal of ground staff from the tarmac The ability of aircraft to use RNP when a thunderstorm is within 5nm, with systems at Gold Coast allows approach an 'on-alert' status for a thunderstorm minima to be dropped from 4km and 750- within 10nm. This decision is an important 800ft to 2.7-3.5km and 500-630ft. part of the duties of the Virgin and Qantas meteorologists. In prolonged thunderstorm events this Diversion if unable to land can lead to an accumulation of aircraft Diversions from Gold Coast airport may waiting on the ground to be handled. occur if the aircraft cannot land due to conditions being below the minima. This Thunderstorms in the TMA (30nm) will often result in a diversion to Brisbane Thunderstorms within the Terminal Area Airport. Whilst a diversion from Gold (TMA - 30nm) also affect operations. Coast may not be of meteorological Thunderstorms lining the entry corridors significance, it is important to consider the to the north and south of Gold Coast airport, and to the east over the water can air traffic impacts to Brisbane. This have major impacts on traffic flow. information is worth noting in any METCDM briefings or notes. Table 3: Summary of Decision Point Triggers Phenomena Criteria Potential Effect Cloud <800ft NDB or VOR approach unavailable (>3octas) <600ft RNP approach unavailable Visibility ≤4000m NDB or VOR approach unavailable ≤2700m RNP approach unavailable X-Wind >20kts Possible diversions Downwind >5kts/0kts Change of runway (dry/wet) (Source: Airservices Australia) (Changes to the previous version have been highlighted in yellow) Version 4.0 This is a reference card intended to educate users on the phenomena that affect Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) and is based on information obtained from Airservices Australia. The card was accurate on 14/12/2015 – Version 4.0, but may be subject to short term changes that are not reflected in this document. There may also be other factors beyond the meteorological conditions affecting ATFM on any particular day. Airservices Australia, NOC should be contacted for all day of operations information related to arrival/departure rates and runway configurations. Please email any feedback, corrections or comments to [email protected]. www.bom.gov.au (Changes to the previous version have been highlighted in yellow) Version 4.0 .