Fly-in, fly-out at Wagga Airport has no traffic controller

The lack of air traffic control at Wagga Airport is testing flying skills, says a long-serving pilot of Wagga City Aero Club (WCAC).

WCAC committee member Geoff Breust said the risk of accident at uncontrolled airports is "high" before a meeting with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) last night.

"IT WORKS WELL ... ONLY TO THE EXTENT THAT PILOTS REMAIN VIGILANT AND COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY."

CASA officials were in Wagga last night for a workshop aimed at improving pilot safety at airports without air traffic controllers, as well as issues involving flight baggage and navigation rules.

Mr Breust said pilots at Wagga Airport are remaining "vigilant" when exposed to heavy air traffic.

"There are times it can get fairly congested, particularly with airlines, freight and Airline Pilot Academy operations," he said.

"But the skill is quite high."

Mr Breust said increasing air traffic at the airport would need to be managed by air traffic control.

"It works well at the moment only to the extent that pilots remain vigilant and communicate effectively," he said. "Pilots need to separate themselves using radio and sight."

According to Wagga City Council's airport master plan, air traffic is expected to double in the next 15 years.

Currently, about half of all aircraft traffic is private traffic, which includes air freight, charter and flight training.

Mr Breust said an issue that would further test pilots' skills was the management of an ageing aircraft fleet.

He said manufacturing of aircrafts had slowed and, as a result, has pushed up the price of buying new.

CASA director of aviation safety John McCormick said the workshops were an opportunity to improve aviation performance.

"In aviation we must all be committed to improving our skills and safety knowledge to keep everyone safe."