Australian air traffic control

Air traffic controllers manage the safe and orderly flow of aircraft into, out of, and between airports throughout Australia and with overseas regions adjoining Australian airspace.

[3] The CAA was split into two separate government organisations in July 1995: the regulator, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), and the service provider, Airservices Australia.

Airservices Australia was made responsible for delivery of services to aviation: airspace management, aeronautical information, communications, radio navigation aids, airport rescue fire fighting services, and aviation search and rescue.

The role of aviation search and rescue was transferred from Airservices Australia to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in 1997.

Currently, most Airservices Australia ATC units use The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System.

Controllers in a TCU use radar and other surveillance technology to manage the flow of aircraft arriving and departing from major city airports.

Airservices provides air traffic control services in an extended area around capital city airports, and maximise the safe use of this airspace.

Each FIR is managed by its respective area control centre (ACC), which provide en-route services.

As only two of eight capitals are located in the Brisbane FIR, it handles a lesser volume of traffic than Melbourne Centre.

However, as the FIR contains six of the eight capital cities, a very large portion of domestic flights are controlled from Melbourne Centre.

Two bases, Richmond and Edinburgh, provide only a tower service, given their close proximity to Sydney and Adelaide respectively.