Airspace Protection

It is essential that Perth Airport's airspace is protected - now and in future - to provide a safe, predictable environment for aircraft to arrive and depart in all weather conditions.

What is Prescribed Airspace?

International standards have been adopted which define two sets of invisible surfaces above the ground around an airport. The airspace above these surfaces forms an airport's protected airspace, more formally known as prescribed airspace. These two surfaces are the:

Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS)
The OLS consists of two surface types: primary and secondary surfaces. Primary surfaces provide protection to aircraft during their most critical stages of flight and need to be maintained as obstacle free to the extent possible. Secondary surfaces provide protection for aircraft once established in flight where they have a greater degree of flexibility to adapt to the obstacle environment.
Terminal Instrument Flight Procedure Obstacle Protection Surface (TIFPOP) (previously known as PANS-OPS). All TIFPOP surfaces are primary surfaces.

The OLS is generally the lowest surface and is designed to provide protection for aircraft flying into or out of the airport when the pilot is flying by sight. The TIFPOP surface is designed to safeguard an aircraft from collision with obstacles when the aircraft's flight may be guided solely by instruments, in conditions of poor visibility.

Perth Airport designs, manages, and maintains the OLS for Perth Airport. Airservices Australia design, manage and maintain the TIFPOP surfaces for Perth Airport.

Perth Airport also protects various other surfaces, ensuring the continued operation of critical Communication, Navigation, Surveillance, Air Traffic Control and Lighting services.

Copies of Perth Airport's airspace protection surfaces, including surfaces that Perth’s New Runway and future runway extensions, can be found at the bottom of this page.

For more information on the regulations and procedures please visit Department of Infrastructure website - Protection of Airspace.

Protection of Airspace

Part 12 of the Airports Act 1996 and the Airports (Protection of Airspace) Regulations 2026 establish a framework for the protection of airspace at and around airports. Under these provisions, Perth Airport’s airspace has been declared as Prescribed Airspace. This includes the existing airspace as it is used today, as well as the airspace associated with Perth’s New Runway and future runway extensions.

The Airports Act 1996 defines certain activities resulting in an intrusion into an airport's protected airspace to be a "controlled activity", and requires that controlled activities cannot be conducted without approval. The Regulations also outline the process by which controlled activities are assessed for any potential impact to aviation operations including but not limited to:

construction or erection of any building or other structure that may intrude into prescribed airspace, including construction cranes.
an activity that results in artificial or reflected light that exceeds acceptable light intensities or is capable of blinding or confusing pilots.
an activity that results in air turbulence, and
an activity that results in the emissions of smoke, dust, or other particulate matter.

Conducting a controlled activity without approval is an offence under Section 183 of the Airports Act 1996 and is punishable by a fine of up to 250 penalty units. It is an offence under Section 185 of the Act to contravene any conditions imposed on an approval. Under Section 186 of the Act, it is an offence not to give information to the airport operator that is relevant to a proposed controlled activity.

Airport’s (Protection of Airspace Regulations) 2026

The Airports (Protection of Airspace) Regulations have been updated as of 1 April 2026 as a part of the regulatory sunsetting process.

Applications to conduct a controlled activity that are brought forward on or after 1 April 2026 must be submitted, and a determination relevant to that application be made, under the Airports (Protection of Airspace) Regulations 2026.

Section 27 of the Regulations provides that if an application to conduct a controlled activity is submitted under the 1996 Regulations prior to the commencement of the Regulations on 1 April 2026, a determination on that application may be issued under the 1996 Regulations, including after the Regulations has commenced.

For further information on the Airports (Protection of Airspace) Regulations 2026, please visit the Department of Infrastructure website - Protection of Airspace.

Approvals Process

Persons wishing to undertake a controlled activity are required to apply to Perth Airport. Controlled activities are approved or refused by the Delegate to the Minister for Infrastructure, typically a member of the Australian Public Service working at the Department of Infrastructure. However, these powers are delegated to Perth Airport Officers (Perth Airport Delegates) in some circumstances. The Department issue a Delegation instrument that sets out which officer is the relevant Delegate in various circumstances.

Proposals that may constitute or cause a controlled activity are assessed based on whether it is temporary, such as a crane, or permanent, such as a building. Initial assessment is conducted by Perth Airport Delegates.

A person seeking to undertake a controlled activity must obtain approval under the Regulations prior to undertaking that activity.

Controlled activities that infringe primary surfaces are called sensitive controlled activities. Sensitive controlled activities are inherently riskier and have a greater impact on aircraft operations than non-sensitive controlled activities. Accordingly, approval of sensitive controlled activities is a two-step process where the applicant must first be granted permission to bring forward an application before that application can be considered for approval or refusal by the relevant Delegate. Permission can only be granted if:

The activity is for emergency recovery works, emergency restoration works, or public infrastructure works; or
The activity could be conducted without any significant interference to airport operations (i.e. can be conducted during a runway closure without any impact to airfield capacity); or
The applicant can specify exceptional circumstances that the applicant believes justify the making of an application

Some proposals will require further assessment by Airservices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) as per the Regulations. These assessments are arranged by the AAO. These assessments may recommend conditions on the eventual approval to mitigate any aviation risks the activity may cause.

Flowcharts showing the approvals process are available below:

Crane and plant activities

Generally, airspace applications for crane/plant activity in the vicinity of Perth Airport are the most common and assessments can be quite time intensive whether an infringement is detected or not.

In order to improve the facilitation of applications for crane/plant activities Perth Airport has developed the new Protected Airspace Assessment Tool (PAAT).

PAAT is a free to use automated system that can assess cranes/plant against Perth Airport’s protected airspace, and automatically issue permits for activities that are found not to infringe Perth Airport’s protected airspace.

All applications for crane/plant activities to Perth Airport are to be submitted via the PAAT system. Users of PAAT will need to register in the PAAT system and sign a declaration before submitting any applications.

You can download a copy of the PAAT User Manual here.

Airspace protection charts

These charts depict airspace declared under the previous Regulations, the declarations of which continue in force following the commencement of the Airports (Protection of Airspace) Regulations 2026.

These charts continue to depict the prescribed airspace connected with the airport however, some terminology shown on the charts may reflect the former Airports (Protection of Airspace) Regulations 1996. The change in terminology does not, and should not be taken to mean, that the airspace identified in the charts is no longer prescribed airspace.

Any future update to prescribed airspace charts will reflect the modernised terminology within the 2026 Regulations.

A key change in the 2026 Regulations is the categorisation of the surfaces shown in some of these charts as primary and secondary surfaces. Primary surfaces include:

All PANSOPS/TIFPOP surfaces.
Any of the following kinds of OLS for the airport:

The approach surface.
The inner approach surface.
The transitional surface.
The inner transitional surface.
The baulked landing surface.
The take-off climb surface.

Secondary surfaces include:

Any of the following kinds of OLS for the airport:

The outer horizontal surface.
The conical surface.
The inner horizontal surface.

Other activities and structures

Perth Airport has prepared a height constraint chart for each local government area (LGA) within its airspace footprint. These charts show the most constraining surface, whether it is the OLS, PANS-OPS or CNS, across the entire LGA. Proposed structures that approach or infringe these heights may cause unsafe airspace impacts and require assessment from the Airport, Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Airservices Australia and the Commonwealth Government. It is recommended planners, architects and/or proponents of any structure, be it temporary or permanent, review the chart for the relevant LGA.

Proponents should refer the proposed development or structure if any of the below criteria is met:

The structure would be within 10m of the heights shown in a chart, or higher,
The structure is proposed to exceed 100m above the ground, regardless of location
If there is ever any doubt

The proponent should forward details of the proposal to [email protected] to seek tailored advice. In some cases, structures that exceed the heights shown may be permissible, subject to various aviation assessments and/or conditions on construction and operation. Proponents are encouraged to seek advice early in the planning and design process; well before the development application stage. Town planners are also encouraged to make use of these charts to determine if a referral to Perth Airport should be made once a development reaches this stage.