Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 2
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Coffs Harbour Airport (YCFS) is the main aerodrome serving the City of Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, sitting close to the coast a few kilometres south of the town centre. It combines regional airline services with general aviation and training activity, and its history stretches back to a 1928 council airfield that became a wartime RAAF anti-submarine base.
Coffs Harbour Airport is the sole airport serving the City of Coffs Harbour, handling regional jet and turboprop services to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane alongside general aviation and training flights. It is operated under a long-term lease by Palisade Investment Partners on behalf of Coffs Harbour City Council, and is notable to visiting pilots for its air traffic control tower, a comparatively rare facility among regional New South Wales airfields, and for its long history as a training and wartime base.
The airport lies about 3 km south of Coffs Harbour town centre on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. It operates under Brisbane Centre, with an air traffic control tower providing local control during its hours of operation; outside those hours pilots coordinate arrivals and departures using the published Common Traffic Advisory Frequency.
Coffs Harbour has two physical runways. The main runway, 03/21, is a hard-surfaced, lit strip of roughly 6,800 feet, suitable for airline and larger general aviation traffic. The secondary runway, 10/28, is also a hard, lit surface but considerably shorter, at around 2,790 feet on the 28 threshold and 2,381 feet on the 10 threshold; Wikipedia notes this runway is restricted to aircraft under 5,700 kg maximum takeoff weight and lacks instrument approach guidance, so it should be treated as a general aviation-only strip. There is no ILS at the field.
The published frequencies are ATIS 117 MHz, CTAF 118.2 MHz, FSS 122.6 MHz, and Tower 118.2 MHz, with the tower operating under Brisbane Centre. When the tower is closed, pilots use the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency to self-coordinate. The main runway, 03/21, supports instrument approach procedures.
Coffs Harbour has an air traffic control tower that operates during daylight hours; outside tower hours, arriving and departing traffic is coordinated by pilots using the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency. Airline and larger aircraft operations are confined to the main runway, 03/21, while the shorter 10/28 runway is used by lighter general aviation traffic only.
The airfield was established by Coffs Harbour City Council in 1928. During the Second World War it was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Air Force as a base for anti-submarine patrols, with No. 71 Squadron and 'C' Flight of No. 73 Squadron operating from the field between 1943 and their disbandment in late 1944, supported by No. 12 Operational Base Unit. Several wartime bunkers survive near the airfield, one of which has been repurposed as a gallery housing a collection of cartoon art. The airport was upgraded in the mid-1980s, including a new runway, taxiways, apron, terminal and control tower, to support the introduction of Fokker F28 jet services by Airlines of New South Wales in 1983. Air New Zealand operated direct Boeing 737-200 services from Auckland from 1993, and in August 1999 the main runway was widened from 30 to 45 metres to accommodate Boeing 767 operations. From the early 2000s the airport became a regular training destination for cadets of the Singapore Flying College, valued for its favourable weather, surrounding terrain and air traffic control facilities. Further apron and terminal upgrades followed in 2015, and in late 2020 the City of Coffs Harbour entered a 50-year lease with Palisade Investment Partners to operate and develop the airport, including a new Airport Enterprise Park north of the terminal.
Coffs Harbour Airport remains an active regional airport with scheduled services alongside general aviation and training operations. It is one of the few regional New South Wales airports with its own air traffic control tower and aircraft rescue and firefighting cover, though both generally operate during daylight hours only, with the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency used outside those times. Airline operations use the main 03/21 runway, while the shorter 10/28 runway serves lighter aircraft and has no lighting or instrument approach guidance. A general aviation area lies north of the main terminal, alongside a smaller charter terminal without security screening.