Newcastle Airport (Williamtown)

Newcastle Airport
RAAF Base Williamtown
IATA: NTLICAO: YWLM
Summary
Airport type Military/Public
Owner Newcastle City Council
Port Stephens Council
Operator Newcastle Airport Ltd
Serves Lower Hunter Region
Location Williamtown, New South Wales, Australia
Elevation AMSL 9.4 m / 31 ft
Coordinates
Website www.newcastleairport.com.au
Map
NTL
Location of airport in New South Wales
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
12/30 7,999 2,438 Asphalt
Statistics from World Aero Data website[1]

Newcastle Airport (IATA: NTLICAO: YWLM) is 14 kilometres (9 mi) north of Newcastle, New South Wales (27 km (17 mi) by road) in Port Stephens. It is the 12th busiest airport in Australia, handling almost 1.2 million passengers in the year ending 30 June 2009, which is 107,000 more than in 2007-08.[2]

Contents

Overview

The airport is jointly owned by the Newcastle City Council and Port Stephens Council, and managed by Newcastle Airport Limited.

The airport runway is shared with the RAAF Base Williamtown. Even though this base is a military airfield, civilian operations are permitted. Jetstar, Virgin Australia, QantasLink, Aeropelican, Brindabella Airlines, Norfolk Air and Regional Express operate flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra, Narrabri, Cooma-Snowy Mountains and Norfolk Island. The airport is leased from the Federal Government for civilian air travel until 2045.[3]

The largest aircraft operating at Newcastle airport is a Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800. The civil apron can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 767. Future upgrades to the apron will allow the Airbus A330 and Boeing 787-sized aircraft to operate from the airport.. The airport can handle anything up to a Boeing 747.

The terminal facilities were upgraded in November 2005 to cope with future demand and security requirements. In that same year, Newcastle Airport was named Regional Airport of the Year by the Australian airports industry.

Impulse Airlines, a regional airline and later one of Australia's first low cost airlines, established a base at the airport in the early 1990s, creating a maintenance facility. Following Qantas' acquisition of Impulse in 2001, the airport became the maintenance base for Jetstar's Airbus A320 fleet. The base also provides third party aircraft maintenance for the Qantaslink Boeing 717. International Flights to New Zealand were started by Freedom Air in 1995 using Boeing 737 these services have since been discontinued.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines Destinations
Aeropelican Narrabri, Sydney, Cooma-Snowy Mountains
Brindabella Airlines Canberra
Jetstar Airways Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne
Norfolk Air Norfolk Island
Qantas operated by QantasLink Brisbane
Regional Express Ballina, Sydney [4]
Virgin Australia Brisbane, Melbourne

Operations

Busiest Domestic Routes out of Newcastle Airport (Year ending October 2010) [5]
Rank Airport Passengers  % Change Carriers
1 Brisbane Airport 578,900 3.0 Virgin Australia, Jetstar, QantasLink
2 Melbourne Airport 354,900 7.6 Virgin Australia, Jetstar
3 Gold Coast Airport 162,500 14.3 Jetstar
Busiest Domestic Routes out of Newcastle Airport (Month of September 2010) [5]
Rank Airport Passengers  % Change Carriers
1 Brisbane Airport 48,400 2.1 Virgin Australia, Jetstar, QantasLink
2 Melbourne Airport 32,800 10.4 Virgin Australia, Jetstar
3 Gold Coast Airport 16,200 48.1 Jetstar

Future international services

References

External links