Whyalla Airport

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Whyalla Airport (IATA: WYA, ICAO: YWHA) is an airport in Whyalla, South Australia. The Whyalla City Council has operated the airport since 1991 when it was handed over to the council from the Federal Labor Party who were in power at the time. Unfortunately for Whyalla, the main runway's pavement classification number (PCN) had deteriorated from 13 to the current PCN of 8. This put a stop to all heavy aircraft such as the Boeing 737s and Airbus A320 aircraft from using the airport. Although such aircraft never operated on a RPT basis, they were a fairly common sight at Whyalla Airport due to charters.

The airport did remain open for use by The Department of Defence C-130 Hercules transport aircraft until the late nineties. Whyalla City Council, aware of the accelerating damage caused by C-130 ops, asked the Federal Government for financial assistance in upgrading the main runway to accommodate unrestricted C-130 operations. The idea was for the airport to accommodate medium sized commercial jets as well as the RAAF aircraft. Canberra declined to offer the Whyalla City Council financial assistance to upgrade the main runway. John Smith (then the Mayor of Whyalla) immediately put a stop to all C-130 ops in Whyalla, causing the RAAF to use either Woomera Airfield or RAAF Base Edinburgh to fly in troops and supplies for the nearby Cultana Army Training Range. This restriction is still in place today.

As of 2008, the main runway remains substandard for anything other than SAAB 340 use or lower. This is significant, because the airport is still listed by QANTAS and Virgin Blue as the alternate for Adelaide should that airport become inoperable for whatever reason. In 2004, QANTAS requested permission to land a B767 at Whyalla Airport as both Adelaide and Melbourne airports were closed due to fog. Council made the runway available should QANTAS need it but only on the understanding that the B767 may not be able to take off again. The QANTAS B767 did make it safely to its intended destination but the whole incident does highlight the need for Whyalla to upgrade its main runway to safely accommodate such aircraft in the future.

Whyalla Airport is now in a difficult position as the South Australian mining boom gets underway. The city would make an ideal fly in/fly out location for the new mines but lacks the airport infrastructure to accommodate commercial jets. The Whyalla City Council lacks the funds to initiate an upgrade of the main runway and both the Federal and State Governments are reluctant to financially help out, regardless of what political party is in power. Although Whyalla is now growing again, there is no doubt that such growth will be stunted if the local airport cannot be upgraded to the specifications needed by both Defence and the mining industry.