Ayers Rock Airport (also known as Connellan Airport) (IATA: AYQ, ICAO: YAYE) is situated near Yulara, around 463 km (288 mi) (5 hrs drive) away from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and 20 minutes drive from Uluru (Ayers Rock) itself. An average of just under 300,000 passengers per year pass through this airport in the middle of Australia.
Video Ayers Rock Airport
History
The original Connellan Airport at Uluru was provided by Edward Connellan, who started Connellan Airways in 1942, providing passenger transport, chartered Royal Flying Doctor Service flights and mail runs. The planes were usually "Butterflies", which were given to the company by Qantas, and Douglas DC3s. The development of tourism infrastructure adjacent to the base of Uluru that began in the 1950s soon created adverse environmental impacts. It was decided in the early 1970s to remove all accommodation-related tourist facilities near the base of Uluru and re-establish them outside the park. In 1975, a reservation of 104 km2 (40 sq mi) of land beyond the park's northern boundary, 15 km (9.3 mi) from Uluru, was approved for the development of a tourist facility, to be known as Yulara, along with a new airport. The new facilities became fully operational in late 1984.
On 6 August 2000, an Ansett Airbus A320-211, arrived from Auckland Airport, New Zealand, carrying the Sydney Olympic Torch for its inaugural Australian leg. From there, the torch was taken for a run around Uluru, followed by a formal reception.
Maps Ayers Rock Airport
Airport facilities
Ayers Rock Airport has one main terminal for scheduled flights.
The largest aircraft that Ayers Rock Airport caters for is Boeing 737-800s operated by Virgin Australia. QantasLink operate a number of Boeing 717-200s in and out of the airport. Jetstar has from the 4th of June 2013 operated flights to and from Sydney and Melbourne using Airbus A320 aircraft.
Technical aspects
The runway at Ayers Rock Airport is 2,599 m × 30 m (8,527 ft × 98 ft). It has a simple, single stage lighting system and T-VASIS.
Airlines and destinations
In addition, there are a wide number of scenic flights that are offered by different private charters.
Jetstar operates Airbus A320, Qantaslink operates Boeing 717-200s and Virgin Australia operates a mixture of Boeing 737-700/800s and Embraer E-190s in and out of Ayers Rock Airport. All Qantaslink services are operated by Cobham. On 11 February 2013 Qantas announced that its daily Qantas operated flight from Sydney would be replaced by a 4 x weekly service operated by Jetstar.
Other aviation
The main users of the airport are light aircraft - either charter, scenic flights or private owned aircraft.
See also
- List of airports in the Northern Territory
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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