Mount Isa Airport

Mount Isa Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OwnerMount Isa Airport Pty Ltd
OperatorQueensland Airports
ServesMount Isa, Queensland, Australia
Elevation AMSL1,121 ft (342 m)
Coordinates20°39′50″S 139°29′19″E / 20.66389°S 139.48861°E / -20.66389; 139.48861
Websitewww.mountisaairport.com.au
Map
YBMA is located in Queensland
YBMA
YBMA
Location in Queensland
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
16/34 2,560 8,399 Asphalt
Statistics (2024-25[1])
Revenue passengers239,424
Aircraft movements5,193
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[2] BITRE

Mount Isa Airport (IATA: ISA, ICAO: YBMA)[3] is an airport serving the western Queensland city of Mount Isa, Australia.[2] It is served by a variety of scheduled regional airlines, with flights to Brisbane, Townsville and Cairns as well as several other regional centres.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service has one of its nine Queensland bases at Mount Isa Airport.[4]

Since 2005 the airport has been owned by Queensland Airports, which also owns Townsville Airport, Longreach Airport and Gold Coast Airport.[5][6]

History

The 2012-13 financial year was the busiest on record for Mount Isa Airport, handling 263,665 revenue passengers.[1]

In 2019, the airport was a base for relief efforts for the North West Queensland floods.[7]

Facilities

The airport resides at an elevation of 1,121 ft (342 m) above sea level. It has one runway designated 16/34 with an asphalt surface measuring 2,560 m × 45 m (8,399 ft × 148 ft) and is 3.4 nautical miles (6.3 km; 3.9 mi) north of the city[2]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Alliance Airlines Mining Charter: Phosphate Hill[8]
Qantas Brisbane[9]
QantasLink Brisbane,[10] Cloncurry,[10] Townsville[10]
Rex Airlines[11][a] Bedourie,[12] Birdsville,[12] Brisbane,[b][12] Burketown,[12] Boulia,[12] Cairns,[13] Charleville,[12] Doomadgee, [12] Gununa,[12] Hughenden,[12]

Julia Creek,[12] Karumba,[12] Normanton,[12] Quilpie,[12] Richmond,[12] Toowoomba,[12] Townsville,[c][d][12] Windorah[12]

Virgin Australia Brisbane[9]
  1. ↑ Rex services operated under subsidy from the Queensland Government on defined routes with multiple intermediate stops
  2. ↑ Western 2 route - Brisbane-Toowoomba-Charleville-Quilpie-Windorah-Birdsville-Bedourie-Boulia-Mount Isa
  3. ↑ Northern 2 route - Townsville-Hughenden-Richmond-Julia Creek-Mount Isa
  4. ↑ Gulf route - Cairns-Normanton-Mornington Island-Burketown-Doomadgee-Mount Isa

Statistics

Mount Isa Airport was ranked 29th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2024–2025.[1]

Annual passenger and aircraft statistics for Mount Isa[1]
Year Revenue passengersAircraft movements
2015-16
188,635
4,878
2016–17
185,306
4,765
2017–18
197,872
4,779
2018–19
208,247
4,919
2019–20
182,930
4,493
2020–21
173,439
4,480
2021–22
195,956
4,921
2022–23
230,663
4,922
2023–24
232,297
4,802
2024–25
239,424
5,195

Accidents and incidents

On 22 September 1966 a Vickers Viscount aircraft departed from Mount Isa Airport with twenty passengers for a flight to Brisbane via Longreach. Forty-four minutes after takeoff a fire started in one of the engines. The crew were unable to extinguish the fire or feather the propeller so made an emergency descent with the intention of landing at Winton, a town 225 NM (417 km; 259 mi) south-east of Mount Isa. The fire spread to the fuel tank and weakened the wing structure so that a large part of the left wing broke away. The aircraft crashed 12 mi (19 km) west of Winton. All on board were killed.[14] It remains the fifth-worst accident in Australia's civil aviation history.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Airport Traffic Data 1985 to 2025 (financial years)". Bureau of Infrastructure & Transport Research Economics. Retrieved 18 July 2026. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"
  2. 1 2 3 YBMA – Mount Isa (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 9 July 2026, Aeronautical Chart Archived 10 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "Mount Isa Airport (ISA / YBMA)". Aviation Safety Network.
  4. ↑ "RFDS QLD Home Page". Royal Flying Doctor Service. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  5. ↑ "Mount Isa Airport". Queensland Airports. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "About Mount Isa Airport". MountIsaAirport.com. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  7. ↑ Barry, Derek (10 February 2019). "RAAF unload jet fuel at Mount Isa for flood emergency". Collie Mail.
  8. ↑ "Where we fly - National footprint contract charter". Alliance Airlines. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Escape to Brisbane". Mount Isa Airport. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  10. ↑ Cameron Atfield (15 October 2014). "Rex soars in Queensland as Skytrans falters". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Where we fly". Rex Airlines. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  12. ↑ "Discover Cairns". Mount Isa Airport. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  13. ↑ Vickers Viscount No. 416 – Operational Record. Retrieved 2011-08-25
  14. ↑ Ten Worst Aircraft Crashes in Australia Archived 19 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2011-08-25
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