Sunshine Coast Airport (formerly Maroochydore Airport) is an Australian

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer r ...

located at the northern end of the

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast may refer to: * Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia **Sunshine Coast Region, a local government area of Queensland named after the region **Sunshine Coast Stadium * Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), geographic subregion of the Br ...

and approximately north of centre of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, within South East Queensland agglomeration. It is the principal airport for the Sunshine Coast and is the only airport in the region capable of servicing jet aircraft operations. It is the gateway to holiday destinations such as

Noosa The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it wa ...

Maroochydore Maroochydore ( ) is a coastal town in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. The town was subdivided from the Cotton Tree reserve by Surveyor Thomas O'Connor in 1903. The land was acquired from William Pettigrew who had a timber de ...

Mooloolaba Mooloolaba is a coastal suburb of Maroochydore in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It is located north of the state capital, Brisbane, and is part of the Maroochydore urban centre. In the , Mooloolaba had a population of 7,73 ...

, and

Caloundra Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia. Geography Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ...

. There are direct flights to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and

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 Mounta ...

, In addition

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...

serves the city with three weekly return flights from Maroochydore to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. Sunshine Coast Airport is situated in

Marcoola Marcoola is a coastal town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Marcoola had a population of 3,173 people. Geography Marcoola includes part of the pristine Mount Coolum National Park, borde ...

north of Maroochydore, and was developed, owned, and operated by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.On 9 February 2017

Sunshine Coast Regional Council The Sunshine Coast Region is a local government area located in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. It was created by the amalgamation in 2008 of the City of Caloundra and the Shires of Maroochy and Noosa. It cont ...

mayor Mark Jamieson announced that Palisade Investment Partners had been awarded a 99-year lease to operate the airport, with the lease running until 2116. Approvals to operate runway 13/31 and the controversial demolition of 18/36 is being challenged by airport tenants and newly over flown communities with class actions pending.

History

The

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

granted a parcel of land to the

Maroochy Shire Council The Shire of Maroochy was a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast region of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed as a local government entity from 1890 until 2008, when it a ...

in 1958 for use as a

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airstrip. The first test landing on a grass strip was on 16 August 1959. The airstrip was initially used by the Maroochy Aero Club and Queensland Parachute Club. Maroochy Shire Council funded the construction of a sealed runway, suitable for aircraft up to the

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Eur ...

, which opened on 12 August 1961. With the commencement of regular public transport services, the airstrip was renamed Maroochydore Airport. Lights for night landings were provided in 1974. A terminal building was constructed in 1979. The runway was extended to in 1983 to allow the operation of

Fokker F28 Fellowship The Fokker F28 Fellowship is a twin-engined, short-range jet airliner designed and built by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. Following the Fokker F27 Friendship, an early and commercially successful turboprop-powered regional airliner, Fokk ...

and

BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro Internation ...

regional jets. The runway was upgraded again in 1993 to allow the operation of larger

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two u ...

and

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air France. The first member of the fam ...

jets. A new terminal building was completed in 1997 and the airport was renamed Sunshine Coast Airport. On 3 June 2010, the airport changed its name from "Maroochydore-Sunshine Coast Airport" to "Sunshine Coast Airport" and changed its

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

code from YBMC to YBSU. As part of the construction of a new NW-SE runway (Runway 13/31), the former short General Aviation runway (12/30) was removed to enable construction of the new runway. On 14 June 2020, the new runway (13/31) was opened, while the airport's 1797m north–south runway (18/36) was decommissioned, with its northern section removed and its southern section converted into a taxiway. The new runway is capable of handling long-haul wide-body jets.Region set to soar as runway turns Council’s vision into reality
Sunshine Coast Council 12 June 2020

Today

The airport supports a number of regular public transport services (with Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A320 aircraft) and a variety of general aviation activities. These activities are in keeping with the increasing demands of tourism, passenger traffic, general aviation and commercial development opportunities and flight training (Aero Dynamic Flight Academy) . The airport handles aircraft movements of around 87,000 per annum, has a capacity of 900,000 passenger movements per annum. In 2009, the airport handled 916,845 passengers making it the 15th busiest airport in Australia. In February 2012,

announced plans to launch a new twice-weekly between

and Sunshine Coast Airport, to operate seasonally from July to September. This was the airport's first international services. Sunshine Coast Airport had built customs, immigration and quarantine facilities ahead of the first flight. On 12 November, Air New Zealand announced that the season would be extended in 2013, with flights operating from June to October. Air New Zealand committed to operating the services until at least 2017. On 16 October 2019, Air New Zealand in conjunction with the

announced the season will be extended in 2020 until 2023, with flights operating from April to October. On 25 June 2021 it was revealed an agreement with the Queensland Government revealed that Air New Zealand will fly year-round flights to the Sunshine Coast As of 2022, the domestic routes are

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

, These are serviced by

Alliance Airlines Alliance Airlines Pty Limited based in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia with operational bases in Adelaide, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth, Townsville, Darwin and Rockhampton. Alliance Airlines owns and operates a fleet of Fokker and Embraer aircr ...

, FlyPelican,

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 ...

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 founde ...

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 Qant ...

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 brand. It commenced services on 31 August 2000 as ''Virgin Blue'', with two ...

. Previously

Tigerair Australia Tiger Airways Australia Pty Ltd, operating as Tigerair Australia, was an Australian low-cost airline. Founded by Tiger Airways Holdings, it commenced services in the domestic airline market on 23 November 2007 as Tiger Airways Australia. It l ...

used to fly to Melbourne and Sydney and

used to fly to Cairns. A total of 244,708 passengers used the flight services at Sunshine Coast Airport between December 2015 and February 2016. Jetstar, QantasLink and Virgin all increased their services for the summer season. In 2016, Sunshine Coast Airport's domestic airline partners added more than 65,000 extra seats. The additions include 24,200 more seats to and from Sydney, 16,920 extra on the Melbourne–Sunshine Coast route, as well as 23,400 seats on the new Adelaide service provided by Jetstar. In February 2022,

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

Bonza announced that the airport would become its headquarters and one of two main bases for its planned start-up operation.

Terminal and facilities

The airport has one

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output devi ...

. For the Air New Zealand flights to Auckland the terminal can be split into an international and domestic terminal. It has one-storey and there are no aerobridges, and passengers must take a short walk on the tarmac to reach their aircraft. There are a few food and shopping outlets within the terminal for passengers. Each of the three airlines operating have dedicated check-in desks and gates. There are two

baggage carousel A baggage carousel is a device, generally at an airport, that delivers checked luggage to the passengers at the baggage reclaim area at their final destination. Not all airports use these devices. Airports without carousels generally deliver bagg ...

s, TV monitors, a taxi rank,

shuttle bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...

s and hire-car desks. The departure lounge is fairly large, with seating available for about 300 people.

Airport transport options

The airport has a range of transport options to and from the airport. The local taxi service is Suncoast Cabs.

Sunbus Sunbus was an Australian bus operator in the Australian state of Queensland. It operated in 5 regional areas across the state under contract to the Government of Queensland under the TransLink banner. As of 2022 Sunbus has changed its name a ...

' route 622

Sunshine Plaza Sunshine Plaza is a large regional shopping centre located in Maroochydore, Queensland, and is the largest shopping centre on the Sunshine Coast. Anchor tenants included in the centre are Coles, Woolworths, Myer, Kmart, Target, Big W, H&M, ...

to Noosa Junction serves the airport. The

airport shuttle An airport bus, or airport shuttle bus or airport shuttle is a bus used to transport people to and from, or within airports. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and incorporate special branding. They are also com ...

service is run by several companies offering shuttle transfer to Sunshine Coast hotels and private residences to all suburbs south of the Sunshine Coast Airport including Twin Waters, Maroochydore,

Alexandra Headland Alexandra Headland is a coastal Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb of Maroochydore in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Alexandra Headland had a population of 3,958 people. Geography Alexandra Headland is locat ...

, Mooloolaba, Kawana,

Buderim Buderim ( ) is an urban centre on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. It sits on a mountain which overlooks the southern Sunshine Coast communities. In the , the urban area of Buderim had a population of 54,483. The name "Buderim" i ...

, Caloundra, Golden Beach and Pelican Waters.

Expansion

The airport used to have two runways. The longer main runway, 18/36, handled the jets (737, A320) and the shorter runway 12/30 handled general aviation. 12/30 has since been replaced with 13/31, a larger runway. As of 10 January 2021, 13/31 is the only active runway at Sunshine Coast Airport as runway 18/36 has been decommissioned due to safety concerns and since been turned into taxiway F. In June 2020, the new runway 13/31 was opened. This replaced the existing runway 12/30 and allowed for operation of aircraft larger and with longer range than the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 with minimal impact on nearby residents. Use of wide body aircraft such as

Airbus A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...

and

Boeing 777 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 ...

Boeing 787 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...

would allow for direct flights to Southeast Asia, China and Hawaii, as well as additional domestic flights. A series of environmental considerations were given to the expansion, including the Coordinator-General's recommendation to ensure the requirements for tidal flap to allow conveyance of floodwater and avoid submergence of mangrove roots for extended periods. Other requirement such as offsetting to provide additional

critical habitat Critical habitat is a habitat area essential to the conservation of a listed species, though the area need not actually be occupied by the species at the time it is designated. This is a specific term and designation within the U.S. Endangered Spe ...

for vulnerable flora and fauna including revegetation of sections to provide adequate and alternate suitable

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

s for species.Sunshine Coast Airport Expansion project, Coordinator-General’s evaluation report on the environmental impact statement May 2016
Accessed: 21 September 2020 The airports expansion are being undertaken by the

John Holland Group The John Holland Group is an infrastructure, building, rail and transport business operating in Australia and New Zealand. Headquartered in Melbourne, it is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction. History The company was founded in ...

Airlines and destinations

Operations

References

External links

* {{Airports in Queensland Airports established in 1959 Airports in Queensland Public transport in Sunshine Coast, Queensland 1959 establishments in Australia International airports in Australia