A Cessna seaplane tied up at the Yarralumla Bay dock during the December 2020 trial. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
Seaplanes will be landing and taking off from Lake Burley Griffin in the first half of 2023 after the National Capital Authority (NCA) opened up the West Basin of the lake for flights to and from Sydney and the South Coast.
As often as four times a day, seven days a week, Sydney Seaplanes will take up to 14 passengers from Rose Bay in Sydney at 9 am and 2:30 pm, and from Canberra at 10:30 am and 4 pm, at a cost of about $300 each way.
South Coast Seaplanes promise four passengers a scenic joy ride from Moruya Airport, with times and flight paths still to be confirmed.
Flights leaving before 10 am and landing after 3:30 pm will use Canberra Airport. The planes will be stored overnight on the airport tarmac and refuelled by the lake’s shore with a tanker truck.
Passengers will disembark at a new 18-metre-long floating pontoon on the eastern side of the Acton Peninsula, near the National Museum of Australia.
It’s been a long journey to this point for the NCA, which was first approached by Sydney Seaplanes in 2017 with a proposal for commuter services. Heritage and environmental assessments were undertaken in the years leading up to a proposed 2021 start date, with a trial run in December 2020.
NCA chief executive officer Sally Barnes discussing seaplanes in December 2020. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
CEO Sally Barnes said the project was then set back by COVID-19.
“We didn’t know if Canberra would have a tourism industry afterwards or even if these seaplane businesses would still be in operation,” she said.
Since then, Lake Burley Griffin and the adjacent lands were included on the Commonwealth Heritage list in 2022, so the project hangs on Commonwealth approval, but the NCA doesn’t expect any pushback.
The proposal has also met criticism over the years from users of the lake, particularly the non-profit community group, Lake Burley Griffin Guardians.
Up to 70 different groups of lake users will meet with the NCA on Wednesday (16 November) to workshop all aspects of the seaplane proposal.
“We’re hoping they’ll roll their sleeves up with us and actually make it as good as it can be,” Ms Barnes said.
“We’re not consulting about whether we’re having [seaplanes] or not. This is about making them work. And if people are still concerned, we’ll go back and make adjustments. We’re still flexible.”
Seaplanes on the Central Basin were never an option because of its place in the ‘Parliament House Vista’. With an average depth of two to four metres and surrounded by businesses and residential apartments, the East Basin was also ruled out early on.
The proposed flight paths include easterly and westerly routes, landing in West Basin.
The western approach is over Belconnen, across the Molonglo River and Weston Park in Yarralumla, past Black Mountain Peninsula, before coming to a stop within 100 to 300 metres of touchdown. The plane will ‘taxi’ slowly to the new pontoon.
The eastern approach has the plane coming over the Jerrabomberra Wetlands, over the East and Central Basins before landing near Springbank Island.
In terms of noise, previous tests by the ACT Environment Protection Agency found the flights, landings and take-offs remained under 100 decibels at all times.
A seaplane landing in Lake Burley Griffin. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
The lake-user groups will also offer feedback on a new ‘Lake User Safety Guide’ and seaplane licence. This outlines rules on the use of Lake Burley Griffin for seaplane operations, guidance on permits, agreements and approvals, and information on relevant legislation.
The workshop will be followed by another, more up-to-date heritage assessment before a final Lake User Guide is published and the docking infrastructure goes in.
The first flight will land within the next six months.
“We see Canberra as a place for all Australians,” Ms Barnes said.
“We see this as an additional way for people to access Canberra. The other thing we know is that people love being out and seeing things happening. I would say we get more complaints over not enough happening on the lake than we do about too much. People like colour and movement.”
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