Rose Bay Water Airport (

IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...

: RSE) is a water airport located in the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

suburb of

Rose Bay, New South Wales Rose Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rose Bay is located seven kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Waverley Council (east of Old S ...

, Australia. It is eight kilometres from the

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

and is one of two water airports in Sydney, the other being Palm Beach Water Airport.

History

On 4 August 1938, Rose Bay Water Airport was officially opened. However, it already had been established as a flying boat base on a 'temporary basis', and was the starting point for the Sydney to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

flights that were operated by Qantas Empire Airways and

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passenger ...

in a

codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

. This made it Australia's first international airport. In 1942, due to the outbreak of

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 ...

, commercial flights were suspended.

Ansett Airways 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 ...

commenced operating services to

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

in 1953. After the arrival of passenger jetliners in the 1950s, a gradual demise in flying boats began. In 1955,

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 ...

discontinued its flying boat service. Ansett continued to operate flying boat services to Lord Howe Island until 1974 when the island's land airport opened.

Facilities

Sydney By Seaplane has a single small terminal to serve customers. Sydney Seaplanes and Seawing Airways are based in another building at Rose Bay.

Airlines and destinations

Sydney by Seaplane and Seawing Airways, which are both trading names of Krug Agencies Pty Ltd, operate return sight-seeing flights to Palm beach and elsewhere. Sydney Seaplanes offers a series of tour packages, as well as scenic flights.

References

{{Airports in New South Wales Airports established in 1938 Rose Bay, New South Wales Seaplane bases Sydney Harbour Transport in Sydney Water aerodromes 1938 establishments in Australia