Mildura Airport is located southwest of

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...

. It is the busiest regional airport in Victoria, the 32nd busiest Australian airport Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only" and has twice been named Australia's Rural Airport of the Year.

History

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it was taken over by the

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

as RAAF Base Mildura. From 1961 to 1976, Australia and the

United States Atomic Energy Commission The United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by U.S. Congress to foster and control the peacetime development of atomic science and technology. President ...

agreed to conduct "Project HIBAL" Upper Atmosphere Sampling at Mildura Airport. In 1967 the Airport was used to launch balloons for the French National Center for Scientific Research.

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 ...

de Havilland Dash 8 400 and

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 larg ...

Saab 340 The Saab 340 is a Swedish twin-engine turboprop aircraft designed and initially produced by Saab AB and Fairchild Aircraft. It is designed to seat 30-36 passengers and, as of July 2018, there were 240 operational aircraft used by 34 different o ...

offer scheduled air services.

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 ...

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 ...

began the first scheduled jet service from 13 October 2008 before the route was withdrawn in 2020. It is also home to Cobden Air and the Mildura Aero Club. Its terminal facilities underwent renovation in September 2012, a $6.4 million revamp by builders Mossop Construction + Interiors. This was completed to modernise the airport, as well as increase its passenger handling capabilities to support future air travel growth. Mildura Airport MQL

In February 2022, new budget airline Bonza announced they would commence flights to Mildura, from Melbourne and the Sunshine Coast. The airline plans to fly to Melbourne three times per week and to the Sunshine Coast two times per week, aiming to commence operations in September.

Airlines and destinations

Operations

Statistics

Accidents and incidents

*On 18 June 2013, a

operating a flight from

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 ...

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 ...

with 91 passengers and crew on board diverted to Mildura due to heavy fog which had closed Adelaide airport. The flight carried enough fuel to allow roughly 30 minutes holding. A

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 ...

737 had also diverted to Mildura, arriving after the Virgin flight and radioed that they were running low on fuel. This was interpreted by the Virgin crew as an urgent situation and they allowed the Qantas flight to land ahead. With the airport's automated weather service unavailable and the visibility deteriorating, the Virgin flight conducted a missed approach and now critically low on fuel were forced to commit to an immediate emergency landing. Mildura airport is not equipped with an

Instrument Landing System In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

approach aid and the crew performed the landing without visual reference to the runway on the second attempt. The aircraft landed with remaining fuel. *On 6 November 2015, the pilot of a

Cessna 310 The Cessna 310 is an American four-to-six-seat, low-wing, twin-engine monoplane produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the first twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production after World War II. Development The 310 first fl ...

R, on a private flight from Moorabbin, lost control and crashed on approach to land at Mildura, after the left engine was starved of fuel. The pilot was fatally injured and the aircraft destroyed.

References

External links

* {{authority control Airports in Victoria (Australia) Mildura