Ayers Rock Airport (also known as Connellan Airport) is situated near

Yulara Yulara is a town in the southern region of the Northern Territory, Australia. It lies as an unincorporated enclave within MacDonnell Region. At the , Yulara had a permanent population of 1,099, in an area of . It is by road from World Heritage ...

, around (5 hrs drive) away from

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, and 20 minutes drive from Uluru / Ayers Rock itself. An average of just under 300,000 passengers pass through this airport each year.

History

The original Connellan Airport at Uluru was provided by

Edward Connellan Edward John ("EJ" or "Eddie") Connellan AO, CBE (24 June 1912 – 26 December 1983) was an Australian aviator who founded Connellan Airways and was a pioneer of aviation in the Northern Territory. Early life Connellan was born on 24 June 1912 a ...

, who founded

Connellan Airways Connellan Airways (later Connair) was an airline headquartered in Alice Springs, Australia. It operated scheduled flights as well other air transport services throughout the Northern Territory from 1939 to 1980. History The company was fo ...

in 1942. The development of tourism infrastructure adjacent to the base of Uluru / Ayers Rock that began in the 1950s soon created adverse environmental impacts. It was decided in the early 1970s to remove all accommodation-related tourist facilities from near the base of Uluru / Ayers Rock and re-establish them outside the national park. In 1975, a reservation of of land beyond the national park's northern boundary, from Uluru, was approved for the development of a tourist facility, to be known as

, along with a new airport. The new facilities became fully operational in late 1984. The airport was featured in a 1998 episode of

Tots TV ''Tots TV'' is a British children's television programme, produced by Ragdoll Productions and Central. The series was first telecast in the UK on the ITV network (part of CITV) from 1993 to 1998. Development ''Tots TV'' was written by two of ...

called ''Airport''. On 6 August 2000, an

Ansett Australia Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into adminis ...

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

arrived from

Auckland Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airport Oaks, a service hub suburb south of the ...

in New Zealand, carrying the Sydney Olympic Torch for its inaugural Australian leg. From there, the torch was taken for a run around Uluru / Ayers Rock, followed by a formal reception.

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 ...

at the time Virgin Blue announced in March 2010 that the airline would start flying to Uluru / Ayers Rock flights later commenced from Sydney in August 2010 which also marked the airline's first flight into the red centre operated by Embraer E-190s. In September 2020 Virgin Australia revealed it had dropped seven regional destinations with one of them being Uluru / Ayers Rock.

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

then announced in February 2013 that

Jetstar Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgi ...

would take over Qantas mainline's Sydney service in April 2013. Jetstar later launched flights from

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , colloquially known as Tullamarine Airport, is the primary airport serving the city of Melbourne, and the second busiest airport in Australia. It opened in 1970 to replace the nearby Essendon Airport. Melbourne Airport is t ...

in June 2014 and

Brisbane Airport Brisbane Airport is the primary international airport serving Brisbane and South East Queensland. The airport services 31 airlines flying to 50 domestic and 29 international destinations, in total amounting to more than 22.7 million passeng ...

in August 2018. Qantas announced in November 2018 that Qantas mainline would return in April 2019 along with 2 news routes from

Adelaide Airport Adelaide Airport , also known as Adelaide International Airport, is the principal airport of Adelaide, South Australia and the List of the busiest airports in Australia, fifth-busiest airport in Australia, servicing 8.5 million passenger ...

and

Darwin Airport Darwin International Airport is the busiest airport serving the Northern Territory and the tenth busiest airport in Australia. It is the only airport serving Darwin. The airport is located in Darwin's northern suburbs, from Darwin city ...

, these flights haven't returned after being put on hold in 2020. In May 2021 Qantas revealed that the airline will resume its Sydney flights for the first time since April 2013 in March 2022.

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 ...

also has flights from

Cairns Airport Cairns Airport is an international airport in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Formerly operated by the Cairns Port Authority, the airport was sold by the Queensland Government in December 2008 to a private consortium. It is the seventh busiest ...

and

Alice Springs Airport Alice Springs Airport is an Australian regional airport south of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The airport was notably involved in Australia's first domestic airline hijacking, and later a suicide attack by a former airline employee wh ...

Facilities

Ayers Rock Airport has one main terminal for scheduled flights. The runway at Ayers Rock Airport is . It has a simple, single stage lighting system and T-VASIS. The largest aircraft currently serving Ayers Rock Airport are

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

jetliners operated by

and also previously by

currently operates

jetliners on its flights into the airport.

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

{{Airports in the Northern Territory Airports in the Northern Territory Airports established in 1984 1984 establishments in Australia

History

Facilities

Airlines and destinations

See also

References

External links