| Cairns Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| IATA: CNS – ICAO: YBCS | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Operator | Cairns Port Authority | ||
| Serves | Cairns, Queensland | ||
| Location | Aeroglen | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 10 ft / 3 m | ||
| Coordinates | 16°52′29″S 145°45′08″E / 16.87472°S 145.75222°E | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 15/33 | 3,196 | 10,486 | Asphalt |
| 12/30 | 925 | 3,035 | Asphalt |
| Source: AIP Enroute Supplement[1] | |||
Cairns Airport (IATA: CNS, ICAO: YBCS) is an Australian domestic and international airport in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Formerly operated by the Cairns Port Authority, the airport was sold by the Queensland Government in December 2008 to a private consortium. It is the seventh busiest airport in Australia. The airport is located 7 kilometres (4 miles) north of the Cairns central business district in the suburb of Aeroglen. The airport lies between Mount Whitfield to the west and Trinity Bay to the east.
The airport serves international, domestic and general aviation flights including a number of helicopter operators. Flights are operated to major Australian cities and tourist destinations, regional communities in Far North Queensland, and a number of international destinations in the Asia-Pacific region with connections to the rest of the world. The airport formed the main base for Australian Airlines prior to its ceasing of operations in June 2006 (the airport remains a major port for parent company Qantas). It is also a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia and the search and rescue helicopters of the State Emergency Service. The airport is currently being extended and renovated to a new modern design.
Contents |
Facilities
The airport has two passenger terminals located on the eastern side on reclaimed mangrove swamp. The terminals are in two separate buildings 200 metres (656 feet) from one another. The air traffic control tower is also located in this area. The general aviation area is on the western side of the airport adjacent to the Captain Cook Highway.
Qantas up until the redevelopment, utilised the Southern end of the domestic terminal. A new Qantas Club lounge is currently under construction, and in the interim Qantas are utilising the former Ansett Australia Golden Wing lounge as a temporary Qantas Club. Both Virgin Blue and Jetstar utilise the Northern (former Ansett) end of the Domestic terminal. The whole terminal is undergoing a $200 million redevelopment. Work started in August 2007 and is expected to be finished by late 2010. Current work is focused on redevelopment of the departure lounge. Check-in facilities will all be expanded into a common-user facility for all airlines, and the building enlarged. Five new airbridges will replace the existing three old airbridges at Gate 18, 19 and 20.
The International Terminal currently has six airbridges.
The airport’s main north-south runway is 3,196 m (10,486 ft) long. A smaller 925 m (3,035 ft) runway, used for general aviation, lies to the east; its final approach crosses the main runway. The final approach to the main south-facing runway is located directly overhead Cairns' northern beach suburbs. The flight path to the south is located directly over the Cairns Esplanade.
The airport is located approximately 6 kilometres north from Cairns Central Shopping Centre and is situated on Airport Avenue off Sheridan Street (Captain Cook Highway). Rental Cars are located at the domestic terminal in the temporary arrivals lounge, while bus shuttles to Cairns and Port Douglas depart hourly. Taxis are also available 24 hours a day and cost around $12 to the city centre.
Operations
| Year | Total | |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 3,856,418 | (2,963,540 domestic and 892,878 international). |
| 2006 | 3,731,000 | |
| 2004 | 3,222,000 | |
| 2000 | 2,891,000 | |
| 1995 | 2,419,000 | |
| 1990 | 1,288,000 | |
| 1985 | 578,000 |
| Rank | Airport | Passengers | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Brisbane Airport |
1,193,000 | ▼0.3 |
| 2 |  Sydney Airport |
915,200 | ▼2.0 |
| 3 |  Melbourne Airport |
479,000 | ▲5.9 |
| Rank | Airport | Passengers handled | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Narita International Airport |
224,588 | ▼4.9 |
| 2 | Chūbu Centrair International Airport |
94,413 | ▼24.1 |
| 3 | Kansai International Airport |
79,501 | ▼29.6 |
| 4 |  Jacksons International Airport |
62,795 | ▲7.9 |
| 5 |  Singapore Changi Airport |
61,879 | ▼6.4 |
| 6 |  Hong Kong International Airport |
56,010 | ▲8.6 |
| 7 |  Auckland Airport |
53,745 | ▲11.8 |
| 8 |  Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport |
22,980 | ▼0.6 |
| Rank | Airport | Passengers handled | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hong Kong International Airport |
2,984.0 | ▲13.1 |
| 2 | Kansai International Airport |
1,225.0 | ▼44.7 |
| 3 | Singapore Changi Airport |
811.4 | ▲0.2 |
Airlines and destinations
| Airlines | Destinations | Terminal |
|---|---|---|
| Aero-Tropics Air Services | Bamaga | Domestic |
| Airfast Indonesia | Timika | International |
| Air New Zealand | Auckland | International |
| Air Niugini | Moro, Port Moresby, Rabaul, Tabubil | International |
| Airlines PNG | Lihir Island, Mt Hagen, Port Moresby | International |
| Alliance Airlines | Cloncurry, Groote Eylandt, Sydney, Townsville, Trepell | Domestic |
| Alliance Airlines | Alotau | International |
| Asia Pacific Airlines | Tabubil | International |
| Australian air Express | Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney | Cargo |
| Cathay Pacific | Hong Kong 1 | International |
| Continental Airlines operated by Continental Micronesia | Guam | International |
| HeavyLift Cargo Airlines | Honiara, Port Moresby | Cargo |
| Hinterland Aviation | Dunk island, Lizard island | Domestic |
| Hinterland Aviation | Daru, Tabubil | International |
| Jetstar Airways | Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney | Domestic |
| Jetstar Airways | Darwin, Gold Coast, Osaka-Kansai (Begins April 1)[6], Singapore, Tokyo-Narita | International |
| Qantas | Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney | Domestic |
| QantasLink | Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Brisbane, Cloncurry(charter), Darwin, Gladstone, Gove, Hamilton Island, Horn Island, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville, Weipa | Domestic |
| Regional Pacific Airlines | Bamaga, Mount Isa | Domestic |
| Skytrans Airlines | Aurukun Mission, Coen, Cooktown, Bamanga, Karumba, Lockhart River, Mount Isa, Cloncurry, Normanton, Edward River, Kowanyama, Burketown, Mornington Island, Doomadgee, Palm Island, Townsville | Domestic |
| Skytrans Airlines | Port Moresby | International |
| Vincent Aviation | Bathurst Island, Darwin, Groote Eylandt | Domestic |
| Vincent Aviation | Port Moresby | International |
| Virgin Blue | Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville [7] | Domestic |
1Selected Cathay Pacific services from Cairns to Hong Kong (and vice versa) stop in Brisbane. However, this airline does not convey domestic passengers.
Emergency service
- Royal Flying Doctor Service (Emergency Medical Retrieval and outback medical clinics)
Aircraft
As at February 2008 a wide range of aircraft operate in and out of Cairns Airport. Most notably are Jetstar's Airbus A320s, A321s and A330s; Qantas' B737s and B767s; Cathay Pacific's A330s; Virgin Blue B737s and Air New Zealand's A320s; as well as a large array of smaller aircraft such as Air Niugini's Fokker 100 and Airlines PNG's dash 8.
History
Cairns Airport goes back to 1928 when Tom McDonald started flying his Gypsy Moth off a sand ridge near the present airport. He could only land and take off between high tides. During one emergency, Tom was forced to take off from beer barrels
During World War II the Australian Government bought the airport for use by the Royal Australian Air Force. The Main runway was hard surfaced and made longer for the RAAF aircraft. It was also used by the American Air Force as a transport base, with the 33d Troop Carrier Squadron (374th Troop Carrier Group) operating from the base during 1942.
- 1943 Runway first sealed.
- 1949 The main runway was lengthened to 1730 metres to accommodate larger aircraft.
- 1962-1967 The airport was upgraded and the runway lengthened to 2020 metres and strengthened so jets could land
- 1970-1974 The number of aircraft flying to Cairns increased. TAA and Ansett provided regular scheduled services to most Australian capital cities and also Papua New Guinea.
- 1975 Air New Guinea was the first international service to commence flights out of Cairns to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea
- 1982 Commencement of Stage I Redevelopment. This involved further lengthening of the runway to 2600 metres (making it the longest runway in Queensland) and construction of a new terminal building.
- 1984 Completion of Stage I. Official opening of dual International and Domestic Terminals on 31 March
- 1990 Stage II works completed. This included a new separate International Terminal, associated aprons and taxiways costing an estimate of $80 million. Completion of main runway extension from 2600 to 3196 metres
- 1993, the government sold its interests in Trans Australia Airlines to Qantas Airways. The Trans Australia Airlines section of the domestic terminal was re-branded into Qantas.
- 1997 Completion of Stage IIIA Redevelopment. Within this redevelopment, a three storey Airport Administration Centre was constructed providing 4000 square metres of office space.[8]
In September 2001, Ansett Australia suffered financial collapse and went into administration. Subsequently it ceased all services after 66 years of operations. Apart from a one-off flight, it never recommenced services to Cairns. In 2002, its terminal interests were sold back to the Cairns Port Authority who leased it to Virgin Blue (from 2002), and to Jetstar (from 2004). As of 2009, the former Golden Wing Lounge still remains, and is being temporarily used by Qantas as an interim Qantas Club, while a replacement lounge is being constructed as part of the greater terminal re-development. Some remanant Ansett features can still be seen in there.
Parking and Transport
Public Car Park Short-term and long-term parking and parking for people with a disability are located within the public carparks adjacent to both the Domestic and International Terminals. The public carparks are fully-automated and operate 24 hours per day. They are run by Wilson Parking.
Public Carpark Fee 0 – 20 minutes $3.50 20 – 40 minutes $4.00 40 minutes - 1 hour $5.00 1 – 2 hours $6.00
Taxi ranks are located near both the International and Domestic Terminals. Black & White Taxi ranks are located immediately outside the International and Domestic Terminals.
The taxi fare to Cairns CBD ranges from $15 – $20 depending on destination point
Bus Services Australia Coach/Sun Palm Express operate airport shuttle bus services to hotels, city centre, Northern Beaches, Palm Cove, Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation.
Pick up point is immediately in front of the arrivals area at both terminals and there is an information desk within the terminal, which if not staffed, has direct-dial telephone. No pre-booking is required
See also
References
- ^ YBCS – CAIRNS/Cairns INTL (PDF). AIP Enroute Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 19 Nov 2009.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Domestic airline activity
- ^ International airline activity
- ^ International airline activity
- ^ http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/12/01/79375_local-news.html
- ^ http://www.virginblue.com.au/AboutUs/Media/NewsandPressReleases/P_007447.htm
- ^ http://www.cairnsairport.com.au/airport-history
External links
- Cairns Airport Official Site
- Cairns Airport Guide
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
