RAAF Curtin

RAAF Curtin Curtin Airport
IATA: DCN – ICAO: YCIN
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Operator	DoD / Shire of Derby/West Kimberley
Location	Derby, Western Australia
Elevation AMSL	300 ft / 91 m
Coordinates	17°34′53″S 123°49′42″E / 17.58139°S 123.82833°E / -17.58139; 123.82833Coordinates: 17°34′53″S 123°49′42″E / 17.58139°S 123.82833°E / -17.58139; 123.82833
Map
YCIN Location in Western Australia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 11/29 3,049 10,003 Asphalt
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[1]

RAAF Base Curtin (IATA: DCN, ICAO: YCIN) is a joint use Royal Australian Air Force base and civil airport located 19 nautical miles (35 km; 22 mi) southeast^[1] of the town of Derby on the north coast of Western Australia. As it is one of the RAAF's three 'bare bases' no Air Force units are permanently based at Curtin and it is maintained by a small caretaker staff during peacetime. The base is named in honour of former Prime Minister John Curtin.

RAAF Curtin was the first new major military airfield to be built in Australia since World War II. Construction on the base began in 1983 and it was opened on 11 June 1988.^[2] The base has only been activated twice by the RAAF.^[2]

From the late 1990s the base operated as Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, a Commonwealth of Australia immigration detention centre, which closed in September 2002.^[3] However the centre was reopened in April 2010 to house around 60 Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers whose applications were suspended.^[4]

Since 2007, direct flights have recommenced between Perth and Derby (RAAF Curtin) for the first time since Ansett stopped the service in 1992

Airline and destination

See also

• List of airports in Western Australia

References

Royal Australian Air Force bases Current bases RAAF Base Amberley RAAF Station Bundaberg RAAF Station Camden RAAF Curtin RAAF Base Darwin RAAF Base East Sale RAAF Base Edinburgh RAAF Gingin RAAF Base Glenbrook RAAF Learmonth RAAF Base Pearce RAAF Base Richmond RAAF Scherger RAAF Base Tindal RAAF Base Townsville RAAF Base Wagga RAAF Williams RAAF Base Williamtown RAAF Woomera Airfield Former bases RAAF Base Albion Park RAAF Station Archerfield RAAF Station Bairnsdale RAAF Base Bowen RAAF Base Cairns RAAF Base Coffs Harbour RAAF Station Cunderdin RAAF Base Daly Waters RAAF Station Deniliquin RAAF Base Evans Head RAAF Base Fairbairn RAAF Base Gove RAAF Station Guildford RAAF Base Horn Island RAAF Jervis Bay RAAF Base Mallala RAAF Station Mascot RAAF Base Moruya RAAF Base Mildura RAAF Base Nabiac RAAF Station Narrandera RAAF Station Narromine RAAF Station Nowra RAAF Base Oakey RAAF Base Parafield RAAF Station Pokolbin RAAF Base Rathmines RAAF Station Parkes RAAF Station Sandgate RAAF Station Schofields RAAF Base Temora RAAF Base Tengah (Singapore) RAAF Station Tocumwal RAAF Ubon (Thailand) RAAF Base Uranquinty RAAF Station West Sale RAAF Base Western Junction Overseas bases RAAF Base Butterworth (Malaysia) RAAF Base Cocos Island (Cocos (Keeling) Islands) RAAF Base Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) Shared bases Defence Establishment Orchard Hills Flying boat bases Lake Boga Flying Boat Base RAAF Base Rathmines RAAFs Curtin, Learmonth and Scherger are so-called "bare bases"