Aircraft noise in Kurnell (2231)
On a typical day, about 210 aircraft pass over Kurnell — mostly arrivals at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, below 3,000 ft. Helicopters and light aircraft add another 48 low overflights a day. Estimated peak ground noise reaches 87–90 dB — enough to interrupt conversation outdoors. It ranks #2 of 139 Sydney suburbs for aircraft noise exposure. (Flight Path Noise monitoring data, 90 days to 2026-08-21.)
Data: 90 days to 2026-08-21 · all tracked aircraft over Kurnell · updated monthly
Where the noise comes from
Kurnell hears traffic from 2 distinct sources:
Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport
live map →162 overflights/day (77%) · typically 1,200 ft
Kurnell sits directly under the final approach to runways 34L and 34R, which cross Botany Bay low over the peninsula on north-flow days. When winds favour landing to the north, nearly every arrival into Sydney descends over Kurnell in its last few hundred metres of flight. On south-flow days the traffic reverses and departures climb out over the bay instead, so the noise comes and goes with the wind.
Helicopters & other light aircraft
48 overflights/day (23%) · typically 800 ft
A separate, steady stream of low traffic rounds out Kurnell's picture: helicopters serving Port Botany and the bay, and light aircraft tracking the coast past Cape Solander. These movements stay low — typically under 1,000 ft — and run through daylight hours.
Light-aircraft counts are tracked overflights only — many training and private aircraft carry no ADS-B transponder, so true numbers are higher.
How nearby suburbs compare
| Suburb | Overflights / day | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Mascot | 271 | #1 |
| Kurnell | 210 | #2 |
| Pagewood | 21 | #58 |
| Miranda | 13 | #93 |
| Sans Souci | 8 | #116 |
Common questions
- Is Kurnell under a flight path?
- Yes — Kurnell is directly under Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport flight paths, with around 210 overflights on a typical day, mostly 34L arrivals.
- Which airport's aircraft fly over Kurnell?
- More than one source: Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (~162/day), other low-flying aircraft (~48/day). The breakdown above shows each source's pattern.
- What time do planes start over Kurnell?
- The first movements typically pass over Kurnell around 2:08am, once the curfew (11 PM – 6 AM) ends. Traffic builds through the morning peak.
- Is it quieter in Kurnell on weekends?
- Slightly — weekends average about 25% fewer overflights than weekdays (170 vs 226 a day).
- Why is it loud some weeks and quiet others?
- Runway direction. Wind decides which runways are in use, and only some configurations put traffic over Kurnell — so noise arrives in multi-day patterns rather than evenly.
Checking a specific address?
This page shows suburb-wide averages. An address report gives you the exact overflight count, altitudes, hourly pattern and noise estimate for one property. Leave your email and we'll let you know when reports are ready for Kurnell.
