Departure
97%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Lord Howe Island Airport is a small, remote aerodrome on Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, roughly 600 km east of the New South Wales coast, serving as the island's only air link and a noted refuelling stop for light aircraft crossing the Pacific. Its single short runway crosses the narrowest part of the island, giving arriving pilots a striking view of ocean, mountains and sand in quick succession. Operated by the Lord Howe Island Board, it remains a working lifeline for the island community as well as a memorable VFR destination.
Lord Howe Island Airport is the sole aerodrome serving Lord Howe Island, a small volcanic island in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. It is owned and operated by the Lord Howe Island Board and provides the island's only scheduled air link, carrying passengers and limited freight. The field is well known among pilots for its short single runway, which crosses the narrowest part of the island so that the strip effectively begins and ends at the water's edge, framed by mountains on one side and beaches on the other. Together with Norfolk Island, it also serves as an important transit and refuelling point for light aircraft making the crossing between the Australian mainland and New Zealand or onward into the South Pacific.
The airport sits on Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, in the Tasman Sea some 600 km east of the Australian mainland and about 900 km west of Norfolk Island. Its isolated oceanic position makes it a key waypoint for light aircraft fitted with extra fuel tanks flying between Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and other South Pacific destinations, since these legs are generally beyond the range of light aircraft flying directly.
The airport has a single physical runway, 10/28, with a hard surface. Runway 10 is 2,904 ft long and Runway 28 is 2,564 ft long, the difference reflecting a displaced landing distance on the reciprocal direction. Field elevation is 13 ft. There is no ILS or other instrument approach aid.
Traffic at Lord Howe Island uses a CTAF on 126.7 MHz, with a further frequency of 121.6 MHz listed for miscellaneous use. There is no air traffic control service; pilots should make blind calls on the CTAF to alert other traffic in the vicinity, as is normal at uncontrolled Australian aerodromes of this type.
The airport opened in September 1974, built by the Australian Army Corps of Engineers at the request of the New South Wales Government and the then Australian Department of Transport. Its construction was prompted by the impending end of the flying-boat service that had previously linked the island to Rose Bay Water Airport in Sydney, and the new land-based runway allowed conventional aircraft to serve the island for the first time. The airport has been owned and operated by the Lord Howe Island Board since then.
The airport remains the island's only air link, handling scheduled passenger and limited freight services along with light aircraft using it as a refuelling stop on trans-Tasman and South Pacific routes. It is a certified security-controlled airport under Australian civil aviation and aviation transport security regulations, and all aircraft must apply to the Lord Howe Island Board for entry to the island and complete applicable biosecurity requirements before arrival, so prior permission is required.