Alice Springs Airport

Alice Springs Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerNorthern Territory Airports Pty Ltd
OperatorAlice Springs Airport Pty Ltd
ServesAlice Springs, Northern Territory
LocationConnellan, Northern Territory
Elevation AMSL1,789 ft (545 m)
Coordinates23°48′25″S 133°54′08″E / 23.80694°S 133.90222°E / -23.80694; 133.90222
Websitealicespringsairport.com.au
Maps
YBAS is located in Northern Territory
YBAS
YBAS
Location in the Northern Territory
Interactive map of Alice Springs Airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
12/30 2,438 7,999 Asphalt
17/35 1,133 3,717 Asphalt
Statistics (2016/17)
Passenger movementsIncrease 617,186
Aircraft movementsIncrease 7,195
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart.[1] Passenger and aircraftmovements from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport[2]

Alice Springs Airport (IATA: ASP, ICAO: YBAS) is a regional domestic airport located in Connellan, Northern Territory, 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) south of the town of Alice Springs. The busiest and primary airport serving Central Australia, Alice Springs Airport is the 24th busiest airport in Australia with a total of 356,813 passengers in the 2024–25 financial year.

The airport operates with two runways, of which the larger can accommodate widebody aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747, although not a fully laden take offs due to high temperatures and the runway length. The only scheduled flights using the airport are domestic, although international charters do use the airport on occasion.

The facility is extensively used to launch stratospheric research balloons; the runways used for a balloon launch are closed for aircraft traffic during the balloon launch process.[3] Alice Springs Airport is not subject to a curfew, and operates 24 hours a day.

History

The aerodrome in Alice Springs, c1937
A Connair DH-114 at Alice Springs, early 1970s
A De Havilland Mosquito of No 87 Squadron RAAF at Alice Springs in 1950

On 5 October 1921, the first aircraft landed at Alice Springs, near the site where Eddie Connellen would later establish an aerodrome and founded Connellan Airways (later to become Connair) in 1939.[4][5] As the town grew, the airport, known locally as "townsite aerodrome" was unable to handler larger and heavier aircraft.[6]

The present airport, originally Seven Mile Aerodrome, was originally built in 1940 by the Australian Department of Defence and was used primarily by the Royal Australian Air Force.[7] The airport became an important staging point for military aircraft supporting the allied campaign in the Dutch East Indies, and was an operational RAAF base from 1942 until 1946.[8] No. 57 Operational Base Unit (RAAF) ran and maintained the aerodrome.[9]

After the war, most civilian operations transferred to the Seven Mile Aerodrome.[6] Trans-Australia Airlines began a weekly Douglas DC-3 flight between Alice Springs and Adelaide in November 1947. Weekly Ansett flights to Melbourne commenced in 1960, while TAA established a permanent presence in Alice Springs from 1961.[10] Connellan Airways continued to operate out of their own facilities at the townsite aerodrome until 1968, which is now the site of the Central Australian Aviation Museum.[6]

In 1958, it was officially renamed Alice Springs Airport.[10] The terminal moved to the current site in 1964, the same year the airport's fire station was built.[7] Both opened in 1965 [10] The main runway was extended to its present length of 2,438 m (7,999 ft) in 1961.[11] A new control tower was completed in 1969, coinciding with the closure of the townsite aerodrome and remaining traffic there moving to the main Alice Springs Airport.[12]

Frequent visitor to Alice Springs, British businessman Alistair McAlpine (1942–2014), wrote in his memoir of the impression the new airport had on him in a May 1994 visit:

Only when I climbed down the airport steps did I begin to think I had come to the wrong place. A sign said 'International Airport' and that is what I saw. Gone were the collection of buildings stitched together that had passed for a terminal. In front of me was the modern airport building–there was no longer a grubby bar with grubby customers where sweat and stubble mixed with ice-cold beer; the flies had gone too. The cafeteria could seat a hundred and needed to, for planes arrived every few minutes instead of once or twice a day (..) The days when the population of 'The Alice' came to the airport for a beer and to wonder at the miracle of flight are long gone.[13]

Units based at Seven Mile Aerodrome

  • No. 57 Operational Base Unit RAAF ran and maintained the between 1941 and 1946.[9]
  • Elements of No. 87 Squadron RAAF were based at the aerodrome for a short period to undertake aerial topographic survey work after World War II.[14][15]

Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage

A QantasLink Boeing 717 landing with the boneyard in the background
Walkway from the apron to the terminal

On 27 May 2011, it was announced that Alice Springs Airport had been selected to be the first large-scale aircraft boneyard outside the United States.[16]

The facility, which commenced operation in June 2014,[17] is operated by Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Ltd. The dry arid climate of Alice Springs is similar to Arizona, a major hub for aircraft storage and preservation.[18] The facility is designed to store commercial aircraft not in use, as well as stripping and recycling retired aircraft components.[19]

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, various overseas airlines including Singapore Airlines, Scoot, NokScoot (now defunct), Fiji Airways, Cebu Pacific, Garuda Indonesia, Cathay Dragon (now defunct) and Cathay Pacific were storing their aircraft in the facility.[20][21][22]

On 30 September 2020, it was announced that the facility was close to its current capacity and would be expanded from around 100 aircraft to up to 200 aircraft.[23] At the height of the pandemic, 152 aircraft were stored at Alice Springs, the last returning to operational service with Cathay Pacific in June 2024.[24]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Airnorth Cairns,[25] Darwin,[26] Perth,[27] Tennant Creek[26]
Qantas Adelaide,[26] Melbourne (ends 15 November 2026),[28] Sydney[26]
QantasLink Darwin[29]
Virgin Australia Adelaide[26]

Statistics

Total annual passengers

PassengersYear200,000300,000400,000500,000600,000700,000800,000900,0001,000,000198019902000201020202030PassengersAnnual passenger traffic
Alice Springs Airport statistics[30]
YearDomestic passengersAircraft movements
1985 493,598 6,974
1986 598,888 8,197
1987 689,063 10,106
1988 730,670 9,659
1989 501,180 6,709
1990 658,056 9,092
1991 712,328 10,113
1992 740,469 10,647
1993 855,146 12,081
1994 933,049 13,375
1995 908,772 13,628
1996 823,697 13,008
1997 782,529 13,260
1998 796,021 13,009
1999 790,625 12,587
2000 759,274 11,929
2001 635,715 10,053
2002 554,234 7,370
2003 586,417 7,882
2004 609,908 7,536
2005 599,080 7,255
2006 618,889 6,735
2007 623,525 6,150
2008 650,880 6,623
2009 674,901 6,648
2010 668,844 6,864
2011 598,749 6,670
2012 579,752 6,459
2013 655,245 6,959
2014 621,069 6,770
2015 593,510 6,808
2016 612,174 7,223
2017 618,494 7,250
2018 621,412 7,580
2019 554,544 6,510
2020 209,233 3,404
2021 259,548 4,645
2022 344,191 4,579
2023 354,069 4,967
2024 371,784 5,361

Domestic

Busiest domestic routes – Alice Springs Airport (year ending December 2019)[31]
RankAirportPassengers% change
1Adelaide144,600Increase 11.0%
2Darwin109,700Steady 0.0%

Accidents and incidents

  • A Pel-Air IAI 1124 Westwind operating a cargo flight from Tindal Airport crashed into the Ilparpa Range while attempting an instrument approach for runway 12 on 27 April 1995, killing the two pilots and a company passenger.[32]
  • On 16 December 2000, a mentally ill man broke into the hangar of the Alice Springs Aero Club, climbed into a Piper Warrior aeroplane belonging to the club and was able to start the engine. Despite having no formal flight training, the man was able to taxi the aircraft to the runway and take off under the cover of darkness at around 5am. Shortly after becoming airborne, the aircraft impacted the ground approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) east of the airport, fatally injuring the pilot. The accident was investigated by the Northern Territory Police and evidence heard during the subsequent coronial inquiry revealed the offender had on a previous occasion been apprehended at Darwin International Airport while attempting to steal an aircraft after absconding from a mental health facility. He told authorities he wanted to steal a plane to "fly back to God". It is believed he acquired a key at this time which he later used to start the plane he successfully stole and crashed.[33]

1972 hijacking

Alice Springs Airport was the site of the resolution of Australia's second domestic aircraft hijacking. On 15 November 1972, an Ansett Fokker F27 Friendship was hijacked after taking off from Adelaide Airport. The hijacker, Miloslav Hrabinec, threatened the pilot with a rifle and demanded to be given a parachute and flown to the desert. He was persuaded to allow the plane to land at its intended destination of Alice Springs, where he engaged in a shoot-out with Northern Territory Police, critically wounding a police officer before shooting himself in the head.[34][35]

1977 suicide pilot

Four years later, another incident occurred on 5 January 1977, when a former employee of Connair, Colin Richard Forman,[36] flew a stolen aircraft into the Connair offices (formerly Connellan Airways) located at the airport, killing himself and three of the airline's employees on the ground.[37] A woman working in the offices suffered severe burns and died several days later.[38]

See also

References

  1. ↑ YBAS – Alice Springs (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 9 July 2026, Aeronautical Chart Archived 10 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Airport traffic data".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ↑ "Stratospheric balloon launch bases and sites: Australian Balloon Launch Station, Alice Spring, Australia". Stratocat.com.ar. Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  4. ↑ Saskia Mabin (7 October 2021). "Alice Springs celebrates 100th anniversary of the first ever flight to Central Australia". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "The Central Australian Aviation Museum". Araluen Arts Centre. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "About Us". Central Australian Aviation Museum. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  7. 1 2 GHD Group (July 2019). "Alice Springs Airport - Preliminary Site Investigation" (PDF). Airservices Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  8. ↑ "Seven Mile Aerodrome". Northern Territory Heritage Register. Northern Territory Government. 5 October 2005. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Operational Base Units (RAAF)". Virtual War Memorial Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 "ADG has finalised a Heritage Conservation Management Plan at Alice Springs Airport". Territory Stories. Library & Archives NT. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  11. ↑ Jonathan Green (15 May 2021). "Alice Springs' Historic Seven-Mile Aerodrome Reopens". Travel Radar. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Alice Springs Tower - c.1970-2007". Airways Museum. The Civil Aviation Historical Society & Airways Museum. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  13. ↑ McAlpine, Alistair (2002). Adventures Of A Collector. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. p. 16. ISBN 1-86508-786-6.
  14. ↑ "Aerial photograph of the temporary camp of No 87 Squadron RAAF". Australian War Memorial Collection. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "A Mosquito aircraft of No 87 Squadron RAAF, undergoes an overhaul by unidentified ground crew at Alice Springs, NT". Australian War Memorial Collection. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 4 July 2026.
  16. ↑ "Australia gets first plane 'boneyard' outside US". WA Today. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
  17. ↑ "Outback plane graveyard welcomes first arrivals". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 September 2014.
  18. ↑ Mitchell Abram (28 April 2020). "Alice Springs adds four Airbus A380s to its plane storage stash during coronavirus pandemic". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  19. ↑ Gail Liston (4 June 2014). "First plane for three-year-old aircraft graveyard touches down in Alice Springs". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  20. ↑ Ironside, Robyn (4 May 2020). "Alice transformed into aircraft haven". The Australian. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  21. ↑ "Cebu Pacific sends nine aircraft for long term storage at Alice Springs". Centre For Aviation. 21 July 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  22. ↑ Yaoju, Yu (29 July 2020). "Cathay Pacific to fly one-third of its fleet abroad for storage". aerotime.aero. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  23. ↑ Tim McDonald (30 September 2020). "Extra facility opened for planes grounded by Covid-19". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  24. ↑ Julietta Jameson (6 June 2024). "After nearly four years, last COVID-era plane stored in outback takes off". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 July 2026.
  25. ↑ "Airnorth to link Cairns with Alice Springs". Australian Aviation. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 "Destinations". Alice Springs Airport. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Fly Direct! Alice Springs to Perth". Airnorth. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "Qantas cuts key regional route and scales back Singapore as costs rise and demand falls". Karryon. 29 June 2026. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  29. ↑ "FLIGHTS AND JOBS TAKE OFF IN THE TOP END WITH NEW JET BASE IN DARWIN". Qantas News Room. 15 February 2022. As we prepare to welcome back international visitors, the E190s will make it easier to fly directly between Darwin and other popular tourist destinations including Alice Springs for central Australia, encouraging travellers to see more of Australia.
  30. ↑ "Airport traffic data". Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). Archived from the original on 18 September 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"
  31. ↑ "Australian Domestic Airline Activity 2019" (PDF). Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 December 2025. Retrieved 24 February 2026. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"
  32. ↑ "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network database.
  33. ↑ "Inquest into the death of Bryan G aka Abel Dalls [2001] NTMC 67" (PDF). Northern Territory Government. 15 October 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2011.
  34. ↑ "Policeman wounded at airport - Hijacker dies after gun battle". The Canberra Times. 16 November 1972. Retrieved 27 July 2020 – via Trove.
  35. ↑ Laurie, Victoria (9 November 2007). "Time Capsule: Hijack in Alice Springs". The Australian. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  36. ↑ "Connellan air disaster survivor commemorates anniversary – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 5 January 2008. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  37. ↑ "Stolen plane crashes". Ellensburg Daily Record. 5 January 1977.
  38. ↑ "No inquest on Alice deaths". The Age. Australia. 11 March 1977.

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