Newcastle Airport (Williamtown)

Newcastle Airport is north of Newcastle, New South Wales ( by road) in Port Stephens. It is the 12th busiest airport in Australia, handling almost 1.2 million passengers in the year ending 30 June 2009, which is 107,000 more than in 2007-08.

Overview

The airport is jointly owned by the Newcastle City Council and Port Stephens Council, and managed by Newcastle Airport Limited.

The airport runway is shared with the RAAF Base Williamtown. Even though this base is a military airfield, civilian operations are permitted. Jetstar, Virgin Australia, QantasLink, Aeropelican, Brindabella Airlines and Norfolk Air operate flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra, Port Macquarie and Norfolk Island. The airport is leased from the Federal Government for civilian air travel until 2045.

The largest aircraft operating at Newcastle airport is a Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800. The civil apron can handle aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 767. Future upgrades to the apron will allow the Airbus A330 and Boeing 787-sized aircraft to operate from the airport.. The airport can handle anything up to a Boeing 747.

The terminal facilities were upgraded in November 2005 to cope with future demand and security requirements. In that same year, Newcastle Airport was named Regional Airport of the Year by the Australian airports industry.

Impulse Airlines, a regional airline and later one of Australia's first low cost airlines, established...
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