Barwon Heads Airport is a small airfield specifically for light aircraft on the
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula ( Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington ...
near the township of
Barwon Heads
Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded t ...
,
Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...
. It is primarily used for scenic flights, private aircraft and flight training.
The airport has remained small and undeveloped until recently, where development is soon to commence. In early 2008, a local council permit was given to construct another five hangars and associated car parking.
The airport has a flight training school with two classrooms, fuel facilities and a seafood outlet. A shower and toilets are located in the terminal building, there is a kitchen, snack and drink machines and a lounge area.
The airport has two runways, the main one is a gravel north–south runway, and there is a smaller east/west grass runway, primarily for ultralight aircraft, and light aircraft in stronger wind conditions
History
The owners of Barwon Heads Airport have regularly raised their concerns in relation to
skydiving
Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes.
For ...
being conducted in the vicinity of the airport. Their concerns are that the airport runway is too close to many proposed drop zones that have been suggested. In 2005, a ban was placed on skydiving in the vicinity of the airport. In 2008, airport owners accused the business Skydive City of using an illegal runway from the airport days after the business was evicted from an airport hangar for failing to pay rent.
Barwon Heads Illegal runway still in use
/ref> Airport owners claimed that the illegal runway was compromising the safety of airport users.
Accidents and Incidents
On 25 April 2014, a skydiver was killed when his parachute failed to open. An investigation is currently being conducted by the Australian Parachute Federation.
See also
* List of airports in Victoria
*Transportation in Australia
There are many forms of transport in Australia. Australia is highly dependent on road transport. There are more than 300 airports with paved runways. Passenger rail transport includes widespread commuter networks in the major capital cities wit ...
References
{{Airports in Victoria (Australia)
Airports in Victoria (state)
Bellarine Peninsula