Runway incursions on the rise across Australian airports, says expert

An aviation researcher has found an increasing trend of runway incursions and taxiing incidents at Australian airports over the past 22 years, according to new research. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has opened six investigations into such incidents at Sydney Airport since late July, with the most recent cases announced on August 16 and August 25.

While only one incident resulted in injuries, the remaining five were classified as either serious or incidents. Professor Graham Wild from the University of New South Wales analysed data from the ATSB between 2003 and 2025 and discovered that taxiing collisions or near-collisions increased by about one occurrence every three years for domestic aviation and by three occurrences every two years for commercial air transport.

He emphasised that while there has been an overall improvement in safety, the ultimate goal in the aviation sector is to achieve zero incidents. Experts suggest that modern surveillance technologies, such as drones, could help solve many of the safety issues associated with runway incursions and taxiing incidents. However, Airservices Australia, the organisation responsible for air traffic management, reported that they have been reporting an average of 34 occurrences per month at Sydney Airport since January 2021, which is consistent with the average reported at other major airports.

Sydney Airport's managing director, Keith Tonkin, highlighted that the airport's safety remains its top priority and that the ATSB investigations are ongoing. Meanwhile, the ATSB is examining potential understaffing issues within the airport's air traffic control fleet, and digital tower technology is being considered for future operations at Western Sydney International Airport, which is scheduled to open in late October.