Alice Springs Airport

Alice Springs Airport
IATA: ASP – ICAO: YBAS
Summary
Airport type		Public
Owner		Northern Territory Airports Pty Ltd
Operator		Alice Springs Airport Pty Ltd
Serves		Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Elevation AMSL		1,789 ft / 545 m
Coordinates		23°48′25″S 133°54′08″E / 23.80694°S 133.90222°E / -23.80694; 133.90222Coordinates: 23°48′25″S 133°54′08″E / 23.80694°S 133.90222°E / -23.80694; 133.90222
Website		www.alicespringsairport.com.au
Map
YBAS Location in the Northern Territory
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
12/30	2,438	7,999	Asphalt
17/35	1,133	3,717	Asphalt
Statistics (2011)
Passengers			598,749
Aircraft movments			6,670
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart.[1] Passenger and aircraft movements from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport[2]

Alice Springs Airport (IATA: ASP, ICAO: YBAS) is a small regional airport 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) south of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.

The airport has two runways, the largest of which can accommodate a Boeing 747 or 777 landing (but not a fully laden takeoff 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 occasions. The airport is not subject to a curfew and operates 24 hours a day.

During 2010–11 a total of 640,519 domestic passengers passed through Alice Springs Airport making it the 18th busiest in Australia.^[3]

The facility is also extensively used to launch stratospheric research balloons; the runways used for a balloon launch are closed for aircraft traffic during the balloon launch process.^[4]

History

On 5 October 1921 the first aircraft landed at the original airport located in the Alice Springs township. Connellan Airways (later to become Connair) was based there from 1939. The military buildup in the north of Australia in the late 1930s saw the need for an airport that could take larger and heavier aircraft. This led to the construction of Seven Mile Aerodrome and the diminished role of the Town Site Drome from 1946 until its eventual abandonment in 1968. It is now the site of the Central Australian Aviation Museum.

Seven Mile Aerodrome was originally built in 1940 by the Australian Department of Defence and was used primarily by the Royal Australian Air Force and the United States Air Force, to bring troops and supplies into the area. The airport became the main transit base for RAAF transport planes during World War II. Several civilian aircraft were permitted at the airport, but during the war its primary purpose was military as a refuelling and staging facility, as the airport was strategically located near the Pacific Theater of Operations. No. 57 Operational Base Unit (RAAF) ran and maintained the aerodrome.

In 1958 it officially became Alice Springs Airport. The main runway was extended to its present length of 2,438 m (7,999 ft) in 1961.

Units based at Seven Mile Aerodrome

• No. 57 Operational Base Unit RAAF ran and maintained the aerodrome during World War II.
• No. 87 Squadron RAAF was based at the aerodrome for a period of time to undertake aerial topographic survey work during World War II.

Today

Walkway from the terminal to the airfield

1972 hijacking

Alice Springs Airport was the site of the resolution of Australia's first 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 convinced to allow the plane to land at Alice Springs, where he engaged in a shoot-out with Northern Territory Police, critically wounding a police officer before shooting himself in the head.

1977 suicide pilot

Tragedy struck the airport again on 5 January 1977, when a former employee of Connair, Colin Richard Forman,^[6] flew a stolen aircraft into the Connair offices (formerly Connellan Airways) located at the airport, killing himself and three of the airline's employees.^[7] A woman working in the offices suffered severe burns and died several days later.^[8]

Privatization

On 1 April 1989 the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) assumed control of the airport. On 10 June 1998, the Government of Australia granted a 50 year lease plus a 49 year option to Northern Territory Airports Pty Ltd. Northern Territory Airports is 100% owned by Airport Developments Group (which also operates Tennant Creek Airport). Northern Territory Airports Pty Ltd has 100% ownership of Alice Springs Airport Pty Ltd (along with the Darwin International Airport).

Aircraft boneyard

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, with the first aircraft for storage to arrive early in 2012.^[9]

The facility is to be operated by Asia Pacific Aircraft Storage Ltd (APAS) which chose Alice Springs because its dry, arid climate is perfect for aircraft storage and preservation. The facility will store commercial aircraft not in use, as well as those planes that have been decommissioned from service and which will be stripped of parts to be re-cycled, such as engines, electronics and wiring.

Operations

Domestic

Busiest domestic routes out of Alice Springs Airport
(year ending June 2011^[5])^[10]

Rank	Airport	Passengers (thousands)	% change
1	Victoria, Melbourne Airport	144,536	2.0

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alice Springs Airport

• Alice Springs Airport – Official Site
• History of the stratospheric balloon launch base located in the Alice Spring airport and records of balloons launched there