The basics
This introductory video by Airservices Australia gives basic information about runway modes for WSI and what they mean, and it will be useful for those who haven't followed the flight paths in detail over the years.
The Aircraft Overflight Noise Tool allows you to enter your address and see the flight paths that apply near your home for each mode of operation for WSI.
General information on the entire WSI timeline is available on the Airservices Australia Engage Hub and you can also signup to receive community updates on that site, plus download factsheets.
What if I'm impacted by aircraft noise?
As flights begin at Western Sydney Airport, knowing what to do if you are impacted by aircraft noise is important, especially as these flights will be in addition to flights taking off from Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport, plus light aircraft from Bankstown and other airports.
Airservices Australia is responsible for the Noise Complaint and Information Service for all airports across Australia.
For years I have been encouraging residents concerned about aircraft noise to make a formal complaint so it is registered and receives a response from this formal channel.
There is a webform here or you can make a complaint by phone 1800 802 584 between 10am - 4pm (Sydney time) Mon - Fri (excluding public holidays).
Please also send me a copy of any complaints you lodge, so that I have an accurate picture of the additional impacts being felt by residents across the 4300 square kilometres of the Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury and Nepean regions.
If you do not want to report your individual complaints to Airservices, I'd encourage you to keep a record of the times that you are disturbed by planes in coming weeks, and I'm happy to receive advice from you on what impact you feel the new flights are having.
Publicly available information on plane movements is available on the Airservices Australia WebTrak service here.
Some people prefer to use one of the free smartphone apps like Flightradar24 to see more about which flights they’re noticing, whether just for curiosity or to assist in lodging complaints.
Since 2014 when WSI was announced as a 24/7 airport, I have worked alongside others in our community to highlight that noise impacts are likely to be felt more acutely in our region than elsewhere in the Sydney basin because of the very low levels of ambient noise. The noise monitoring program that has been underway since March 2026 has helped build a baseline of noise, and those monitors will continue to measure noise impacts of all overhead flights including the new WSI flights.
You can see live noise monitoring here with current noise monitoring sites shown as yellow dots on the map.
The Engage Airservices Hub page for WSI has information about the permanent noise monitoring locations, as well as the temporary noise monitors currently deployed, and future locations for noise monitoring (scroll down to find that information).
Our community was successful in having the proposed Blaxland “merge point”, that would have seen every incoming WSI flight funnelled into a path over Blaxland and Glenbrook, abandoned.
We have succeeded in ensuring noise is more widely shared, and getting a Noise Abatement Procedure as part of the Reciprocal Runway Operations mode for night-time.
But I remain concerned about the impacts we will feel when the new airport is operating 24/7.
More information about the Noise Abatement Procedure and Reciprocal Runway Operations (RRO), aimed at minimising noise overnight, is available as a factsheet here. It is worthwhile noting that the Minister’s directive requires Airservices Australia to use RRO as the default for night operations unless conditions are unsafe, and public reporting of adherence to that mode is also a requirement.
Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences with me.
This is a big change.
It is not one I welcome, but I will continue my decade of work in fighting to minimise the impacts of the flight paths on the community I live in and represent.
