Coffs Harbour Airport (formerly ICAO code of YSCH until November 2007) is the only

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

located in and serving the regional centre of

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The airport is located near Boambee, south of Coffs Harbour. Coffs Harbour Regional Airport is one of the largest and busiest regional airports in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, handling numerous types of aircraft. The airport is currently serviced by four airlines

Link Airways Vee H Aviation Pty Ltd, operating as Link Airways, formerly known as Fly Corporate, is an Australian regional airline based at Brisbane Airport, Queensland. The airline operates scheduled regional passenger services in Queensland, New South ...

QantasLink QantasLink is a regional brand of Australian airline Qantas and is an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is a major competitor to Regional Express Airlines and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. As of September 2010 Qantas ...

Rex Airlines Regional Express Pty. Ltd., trading as Rex Airlines (and as Regional Express Airlines on regional routes), is an Australian airline based in Mascot, New South Wales. It operates scheduled regional and domestic services. It is Australia's large ...

and

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, the trading name of Virgin Australia Airlines Pty Ltd, is an Australian-based airline. It is the largest airline by fleet size to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue ...

. Coffs Harbour is one of the few regional airports in New South Wales to have an Air Traffic Control tower. The airport has the capacity to handle any aircraft up to the size of a

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...

Boeing 777-200 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...

. Coffs Harbour Airport is located right at the doorstep of the Pacific Highway which links all of Coffs Harbour and surrounding areas to the airport. In 2011 the airport handled over 27,000 aircraft movements. The terminal handled 413,000 passengers in the 2017 financial year,

Fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

1 July – 30 June making it the 22nd busiest airport in Australia. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"

Airport facilities and services

Facilities

Open air paid parking is provided for over 200 cars.Coffs Airport Facilities
, Accessed 13 May 2011 Indoor security parking is also available for a higher price. CFS offers a small, refreshing lounge for Qantas frequent flyers. It opens 1 hour prior to each Qantas flight, and was renovated in 2017. The lounge offers drinks and light refreshments.

History

The airport was established by the council in 1928. It was requisitioned by the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for the purposes of an airbase for anti submarine patrols. No. 71 Squadron and 'C' Flight No. 73 Squadron operated from the base from 1943 until being disbanded in late 1944. No. 12 Operational Base Unit maintained and serviced the airfield during its operation. A number of bunkers associated with the RAAF's occupation of the airfield exist near the airfield.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Operations

Incidents and accidents

On 15 May 2003, an Ambulance Service of New South Wales Beechcraft B200C King Air aircraft had to make an emergency landing at Coffs Harbour Airport, after it hit the sea or a reef near the Coffs Harbour boat harbour, during an instrument approach in heavy rain and poor visibility. One of the main landing gear legs was torn off; there were no injuries.''Final ATSB report into the Coffs Harbour CFIT accident''
, Accessed September 2007 The aircraft was subsequently scrapped.

References

External links

Coffs Harbour Airport

Coffs Airport Security Carpark

Coffs Coast Aviation Centre

Coffs Harbour and District Aero Club

Information on General Aviation and Commercial Training at Coffs Harbour
{{Airports in New South Wales Airports in New South Wales Airports established in 1928 1928 establishments in Australia Coffs Harbour