Alice Springs Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Alice Springs Airport
nativename =
nativename-a =
nativename-r =

---

image-width =
caption =
IATA = ASP
ICAO = YBAS
type = Public
owner = Northern Territory Airports Pty Ltd
operator = Alice Springs Airport Pty Ltd
city-served = Alice Springs, Northern Territory
location =
elevation-f = 1,789
elevation-m = 545
coordinates = Coord|23|48.4|S|133|54.1|E|type:airport_region:AU-NT|diplay=title
website = [http://www.ntapl.com.au/ASIndex.htm www.ntapl.com.au]
metric-rwy = Yes
r1-number = 12/30
r1-length-f = 7,998
r1-length-m = 2,438
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 17/35
r2-length-f = 3,717
r2-length-m = 1,133
r2-surface = Asphalt
footnotes = Source: [http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/publications/current/ersa/FAC_YBAS_22-Nov-2007.pdf AIP Australia]

Alice Springs Airport Airport codes|ASP|YBAS is a small regional airport 14 kilometres south of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.

The airport has two runways, the largest of which can accommodate a Boeing 747 or 777 landing (but not a fully laden takeoff due to high temperatures and the runway length). The only scheduled flights using the airport are domestic, although international charters do use the airport on occasions. The airport is not subject to a curfew and operates 24 hours a day.

History

On 5 October 1921 the first aircraft landed at the original airport located in the Alice Springs township. Connellan Airways (later to become Connair) was based there from 1939. The military buildup in the north of Australia in the late 1930s saw the need for an airport that could take larger and heavier aircraft. This led to the construction of Seven Mile Aerodrome and the diminished role of the Town Site Drome from 1946 until its eventual abandonment in 1968. It is now the site of the Central Australian Aviation Museum.

Seven Mile Aerodrome was originally built in 1940 by the Australian Department of Defence and was used primarily by the Royal Australian Air Force and the United States Air Force, to bring troops and supplies into the area. The airport became the main transit base for RAAF transport planes during World War II. Several civilian aircraft were permitted at the airport, but during the war its primary purpose was military as a refuelling and staging facility, as the airport was strategically located near the Pacific Theater of Operations. No. 57 Operational Base Unit (RAAF) ran and maintained the aerodrome.

In 1958 it officially became Alice Springs Airport. The main runway was extended to its present length of 2,438 metres in 1961.

Units based at Seven Mile Aerodrome

* No. 87 Squadron RAAF was based at the aerodrome for a period of time to undertake aerial topographic survey work during World War II.

1972 hijacking

Alice Springs Airport was the site of the resolution of Australia's first domestic aircraft hijacking. On 15 November 1972, an Ansett Fokker F27 Friendship was hijacked after taking off from Adelaide Airport. The hijacker, Miloslav Hrabinec, threatened the pilot with a rifle and demanded to be given a parachute and flown to the desert. He was convinced to allow the plane to land at Alice Springs, where he engaged in a shoot-out with Northern Territory Police, critically wounding a police officer before shooting himself in the head.

1977 suicide pilot

Tragedy struck the airport again on 5 January 1977, when a former employee of Connair, Colin Richard Foreman, flew a stolen aircraft into the Connair offices (formerly Connellan Airways) located at the airport, killing himself and two of the airline's engineers instantly. A woman working in the offices received severe burns and died five days later. The aircraft was a B58 Beechcraft Baron stolen from Wyndham in Western Australia. Foreman's last words were a quote from the opera Madama Butterfly: "Death with honour is better than life without honour".

Corporatisation

On 1 April 1989 the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC) assumed control of the airport. On 10 June 1998, the Government of Australia granted a 50 year lease plus a 49 year option to Northern Territory Airports Pty Ltd. Northern Territory Airports is 100% owned by Airport Developments Group (which also operates Tennant Creek Airport). Northern Territory Airports Pty Ltd has 100% ownership of Alice Springs Airport Pty Ltd (along with the Darwin International Airport).

Airlines and Destinations

Virgin Blue

It is speculated that Virgin Blue, which ceased operations to Sydney in November 2004 and to Adelaide in September 2005, may make a return to the red centre using its new Embraer E-Jets. As of February 2008, nothing has been confirmed with Virgin Blue having not made an official announcement regarding the return.

External links

* [http://www.alicespringsairport.com.au/ Official Site]
* [http://www.alicesprings.nt.gov.au/about_alice/airport.asp Alice Springs Airport - Aviation History]
*WAD|YBAS

References

*cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22730070-5012694,00.html|work=The Australian|title=Time Capsule: Hijack in Alice Springs|accessdate=2007-12-25
* [http://www.bushmag.com.au/History/The%20Silent%20Grief%20of%20Alice%20Springs.htm Bushmag:The Silent Grief of Alice Springs]