Departure
94%
vs 95% ▼ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Learmonth Airport (YPLM) serves the town of Exmouth on the remote north-west coast of Western Australia, sharing its single long runway with RAAF Base Learmonth. For the visiting VFR pilot it offers an unusually generous strip by general aviation standards, set within a joint military-civil aerodrome that also acts as a designated weather alternate for Perth.
Learmonth Airport is a civil aerodrome co-located on RAAF Base Learmonth, a Royal Australian Air Force base near the town of Exmouth on the north-west coast of Western Australia. The civil airport is operated by the Shire of Exmouth under a lease from the Department of Defence and occupies a small parcel of land within the much larger RAAF base. Its dual military and civil character, remote setting, and single very long runway make it a distinctive stop for a simulator pilot exploring the north-west of Australia.
The airfield lies near Exmouth on the north-west coast of Western Australia, within the area served by Melbourne Centre, which provides flight service on 125.9 MHz. No further detail on the classification of the surrounding airspace is given in the available sources.
Learmonth has a single physical runway aligned 18/36, some 10,100 feet in length with a hard surface and runway lighting. Field elevation is 13 feet.
Approach is available on 120.5 MHz, with a common traffic advisory frequency of 118.3 MHz. Flight service is provided by Melbourne Centre on 125.9 MHz. Ground and tower frequencies are listed as 25.93 MHz and 25.78 MHz respectively. No ILS is available at the field.
Learmonth was established as an airfield in the 1940s and today shares its site with RAAF Base Learmonth, one of the RAAF's three 'bare bases', which is maintained by a small caretaker staff during peacetime with no permanently based Air Force units. The airfield is named in honour of Wing Commander Charles Cuthbertson Learmonth, a decorated RAAF pilot awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar for leading No. 22 Squadron RAAF in an attack on a Japanese destroyer during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in March 1943. His account of the difficulties he encountered shortly before a fatal crash helped explain a series of similar Beaufort Bomber accidents, and it is for this contribution, as well as his wartime service, that the base and airport bear his name. The civil terminal at Learmonth opened on 3 December 1999. The airfield has twice featured in notable incidents involving airliner diversions: on 7 October 2008 Qantas Flight 72 made an emergency landing at RAAF Learmonth, and on 1 June 2012 an AirAsia X flight bound for Perth diverted here to refuel. In October 2023 a contract was awarded to CPB Contractors to upgrade the airport.
The civil airport is operated by the Shire of Exmouth under a Deed of Operation with the Department of Defence, occupying land within the wider RAAF Learmonth base. It handles scheduled QantasLink services to Perth and supports helicopter operators servicing offshore oil and gas operations along the coast. Learmonth is also designated as an emergency alternate airport for Perth in the event of fog or other adverse weather. Given its status as a shared military and civil aerodrome, pilots should be aware of its joint-use nature when planning a visit.