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Demand Management at Sydney Airport

The Sydney Airport (Kingsford-Smith) demand management framework is designed to control air traffic flow and mitigate noise and environmental impacts to surrounding communities by imposing an hourly maximum movement limit during non-curfew hours. According to International Air Transport Association standards, Sydney Airport is a level 3 coordinated airport, where demand significantly exceeds the airport capacity and it is necessary for all airlines and other aircraft operators to have a 'slot' to land or take-off at the airport. A slot is an allocated time for an aircraft to conduct a gate movement which ensures the movement cap is maintained.

Legislative Framework

The legislative framework underwent significant reform in 2024 and 2025 to deliver on the recommendations from the 2021 Harris Review of the Sydney Airport Demand Management Scheme and Initiative 11 of Aviation White Paper.

The Sydney Airport Demand Management Act 1997(the Act) and associated legislative instruments govern demand management at Sydney Airport. The Act establishes the strict maximum movement limit of up to 80 movements per regulated hour. The total number of aircraft movements at Sydney Airport cannot exceed 1,360 movements per day. In addition, the Act provides for a recovery period to be declared during or after periods of significant disruption, sets out civil penalties for slot misuse, establishes the Compliance Committee and allows for the publication of slot information and supporting information management requirements.

The Sydney Airport Demand Management Regulations 2025(the Regulations) aim to ensure that Sydney Airport operates efficiently, while maintaining community protections and supporting consumer confidence in the aviation sector. The Regulations include requirements about the recovery period, operations and procedures of the independent Compliance Committee, information management, and publication requirements.

The Sydney Airport Slot Management Scheme 2025 (the Scheme) establishes the framework for the allocation and management of slots at Sydney Airport, supporting the operation of the slot management system under the Act. It sets out the process for slot allocation, including provisions relating to new entrants, historic precedence, slot use, and conditions and requirements that may be imposed on slots. It also includes obligations for operators and powers for the Slot Manager in connection with monitoring, reporting, reconsideration of decisions, and declared exemptions.

Slot Manager

The Slot Manager for Sydney Airport is ACL Asia Pacific (ACL APAC).

The Minister's Statement of Expectations outlines the Minister's views on the appropriate strategic direction for the Slot Manager, governance, transparency and data, stakeholder engagement and key activities.

Compliance and enforcement

The ultimate regulatory power is vested in the Minister. The department, on behalf of the Minister, administers the Sydney Airport Demand Management Regulatory function (the Regulator). The Regulator is responsible for the administration of the Act, including the monitoring of compliance with the Act and the enforcement of civil penalties for non-compliance. The Act includes 10 civil penalty offences, 6 of which are in relation to the slot misuse and 4 in relation to information management.

The 6 civil penalty offences concerning slot misuse are:

  • Failure to use an allocated slot (cancellation)
  • No slot movement (arriving or departing without an allocated slot)
  • Off slot movement (delays—operating outside the time tolerance of the slot)
  • Flight operations not in accordance with slot requirements
  • Applying for slots with no reasonable prospects of use
  • Failing to return certain unused slots to the Slot Manager, or to transfer the slots to another operator.
  • Civil Penalties—Information Management
  • Failing to provide information required by the Regulator
  • Failure to keep records required by the Act
  • Failure to publish information required by the Act
  • Unauthorised use or disclosure of protected information.
  • Under the framework, the Slot Manager may identify apparent cases of slot misuse and may issue a compliance notice to the operator and take one or more of the following administrative actions:
  • inform the operator of the non‑compliance and warn the operator of the action that may be taken in response to the non‑compliance
  • enter into a performance improvement action plan with the operator
  • suspend the slot, slot group or slot series for a specified period
  • cancel the slot, slot group or slot series
  • refer the non‑compliance to the Compliance Committee
  • refer the non‑compliance to the Minister for possible action under Part 5 of the Act.

The Regulator may take enforcement action when administrative actions of the Slot Manager have not corrected misuse, or for any non-compliance with the Act.

  • Part 5 of the Act provides enforcement tools to address inefficient and anti-competitive slot misuse behaviours at Sydney Airport including civil penalties, infringement notices, enforceable undertakings and injunctions.

Transparency

The Regulations require the publication of slot information on a regular basis. The Slot Manager is required to publish information on its ACL Asia Pacific Coordination Pty Ltd website four times a year about gate movements and slot utilisation at Sydney Airport, as well as the reasons provided by airlines for delays and cancellations.

  • In addition to regular reporting, independent audits of slot usage will be undertaken to inform oversight of the demand management framework to support efficient slot use and discourage anti-competitive behaviours. The first of these audits, the Sydney Airport Domestic Slot Audit—Slot Report was released on 27 November 2024 with findings about domestic operations at Sydney Airport as well as the performance of the previous demand management framework at Sydney Airport over the period from October 2022 to March 2024.

Recovery period

To improve the resilience of Sydney Airport and Australia's aviation network, the Act provides for a recovery period to allow airlines to recover operations more quickly following periods of significant disruption. The recovery period is intended to reduce cancellations and associated network-wide delays, and assist in clearing the backlog of delayed flights.

A recovery period temporarily allows for up to 85 movements per hour (up from 80 movements) for a maximum of two consecutive hours. Recovery periods cannot be used during curfew hours and will not allow for an exceedance in the total number of daily aircraft movements for Sydney Airport.

For Airservices Australia to enact a recovery period it must be declared by the Minister or their delegate. A declaration may be made if:

  • aircraft movements at Sydney Airport are significantly disrupted;
  • the cause or circumstances of the disruption meet criteria set out in the Regulations; and
  • Airservices Australia has recommended the declaration.

 

Protected Regional Service Slot Series (PRSS)

The Act continues to protect regional NSW access to Sydney Airport during peak periods (7–11 am and 5–8 pm Monday–Friday) by requiring the Slot Manager to:

  • prioritise slot applications that will improve access to regional services during peak periods
  • prioritise the retiming of a PRSS series for greater flexibility and reduce trapped slots; and
  • provide regional operators access to peak non-PRSS slots when PRSS allocations are exhausted.

Compliance Committee

The role of the Sydney Airport Demand Management Compliance Committee (the Committee) has changed. The Committee is established by the Minister under the Actand serves as an independent advisory body to the Minister. The Committee is required to meet at least twice per year.

  • The Committee is required to report to the Minister about the allocation and use of slots at Sydney Airport, gate movements at Sydney Airport and compliance with the Act, and may make recommendations on enforcement action. Its independence and expertise are important for providing a fair and effective demand management system at Sydney Airport.

Feedback and further information

To provide feedback or if you require further information please contact demandmanagement@infrastructure.gov.au.

Additional resources