Ayers Rock Airport

Ayers Rock Airport Connellan Airport Ayers Rock/Connellan Airport
IATA: AYQ – ICAO: YAYE
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia Pty Ltd
Location	Ayers Rock
Elevation AMSL	1,626 ft / 496 m
Coordinates	25°11′10″S 130°58′32″E / 25.18611°S 130.97556°ECoordinates: 25°11′10″S 130°58′32″E / 25.18611°S 130.97556°E
Map
YAYE Location in the Northern Territory
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 13/31 2,599 8,527 Asphalt
Statistics (2010-11[1])
Passengers 309,089 Aircraft movements 4,017
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[2] Passengers and movements from BITRE[3]

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.^[3]

History

Connellan Airport was originally started by Edward Connellan. He started an airline called "Connellan Airways" which specialised in transport, Royal Flying Doctor Service and mail runs. The planes that were used in this airline were usually "Butterflies" which were given to them from Qantas, Douglas DC3s, and a few other planes. The development of tourism infrastructure adjacent to the base of Uluru that began in the 1950s soon produced adverse environmental impacts. It was decided in the early 1970s to remove all accommodation-related tourist facilities 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 and an associated airport, to be known as Yulara. 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.

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 4 June 2013 operated flights to and from Sydney 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

Airlines	Destinations
Jetstar Airways	Melbourne,[4] Sydney
QantasLink operated by Cobham	Alice Springs, Cairns
Virgin Australia	Sydney

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

1. Fiscal year 1 July - 30 June
2. YAYE – Ayers Rock/Connellan (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 10 November 2016, Aeronautical Chart Archived 10 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
3. "Airport Traffic Data 1985-86 to 2010-11". Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"
4. http://www.travelweekly.com.au/news/jetstar-to-launch-melbourne-uluru-service