Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Alice Springs Airport is the principal aerodrome for Central Australia, lying some 7 nautical miles south of the town at Connellan in the Northern Territory. It is a wide-bodied capable regional field with a long history stretching back to the earliest days of aviation in the interior, and it remains an active base for scheduled airline services, military flights and stratospheric balloon research.
Alice Springs Airport serves as the main gateway to Central Australia, situated at Connellan south of the town of Alice Springs. It is operated by Northern Territory Airports and is the only wide-bodied capable airport in the region, handling scheduled domestic services, occasional international charters and a weekly United States Air Force flight in support of the Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap. For a visiting VFR pilot it offers a long history, an ILS-equipped main runway and a genuinely remote, outback character that makes it a distinctive stop in the Northern Territory.
The airport lies at Connellan, Northern Territory, roughly 7 nautical miles (about 14 kilometres) south of the Alice Springs town centre. It sits within the area worked by Melbourne Centre, whose frequency is also used on the tower/CTAF channel. As the primary and busiest airport in Central Australia it caters for emergency diversions of aircraft of all classes as well as international charter flights.
Alice Springs has two physical runways. The main runway, 12/30, is 7,990 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with an ILS on runway 12. The secondary runway, 17/35, is 3,726 feet long, also hard-surfaced and lit. Field elevation is 1,778 feet.
ATIS is broadcast on 115.9 MHz. The common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) is 118.3 MHz, which is also used as the tower frequency, and flight service (FSS) is available on 119.8 MHz. The field is served by an ILS on runway 12.
Alice Springs Airport is not subject to a curfew and operates around the clock. The airport is also extensively used to launch stratospheric research balloons, and the runway in use for a launch is closed to aircraft traffic while the launch process is underway, so pilots planning a visit should be aware that runway availability can be affected by this activity.
Aviation at Alice Springs dates to 5 October 1921, when the first aircraft landed near the site where Eddie Connellan later established an aerodrome, founding Connellan Airways (later Connair) in 1939. The original
Alice Springs Airport is not subject to a curfew and operates 24 hours a day, handling scheduled domestic flights, occasional international charters, and a weekly Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap USAF service. It is owned by Northern Territory Airports, which also owns Darwin International Airport, and is set within a large landholding of which only part is used for aeronautical purposes. The field is also used as a base for launching stratospheric research balloons, and since 2011 has hosted a large-scale aircraft storage and boneyard facility. Pilots should be aware that prior permission may be required for certain operations.