Roma Airport is an airport located northwest of

Roma, Queensland Roma is a rural town and locality in the Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Maranoa Region. The town was incorporated in 1867 and is named after Lady Diamantina Bowen (née di Roma), the wife of Sir ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The airport underwent a major redevelopment completed in April 2012, replacing the original A.T. Berry Terminal with a larger, modern facility. Much of the $14 million project funded by energy and resources companies to support their operations in the area. The

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

has one of its nine Queensland bases at Roma Airport.

History

The airport opened in 1949, replacing an earlier facility which had been operating since the 1920s located across town, south of the railway line. The town was one of the first served by

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 ...

, who inaugurated weekly services between

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 ...

, Roma and

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

in April 1929. With the move to the new site, the services increased to every weekday. As there was no terminal facilities on the site, from the 1960s ground handling, check-in and bookings were conducted out of the back of a

Ford Falcon Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford Argentina from 1962 until 1991. * For ...

utility by local man Alan Berry. On 27 April 1996 the mayor of Roma opened a new terminal facility, named the AT Berry Terminal in honour of Mr. Berry's dedication to aviation in the town. The airport and terminal facilities were extensively upgraded in 2012, with the construction of a new terminal (also named the AT Berry Terminal) and enlarged apron. Within months of opening in April, by December the new terminal was already operating close to capacity, handling more than 179,000 passengers in the 2012-13 financial year. In 2013-14 the airport handled more than 254,000 passengers, ranking Roma as the 29th busiest airport in Australia. This growth represented an increase of 42.1% on the previous year and was the strongest growth recorded for any regional airport in Australia. Much of this passenger traffic is generated from closed

fly-in fly-out Fly-in fly-out is a method of employing people in remote areas by flying them temporarily to the work site instead of relocating employees and their families permanently. It is often abbreviated to FIFO when referring to employment status. This is ...

(FIFO) charters for the resources industry involved in

coal seam gas Coalbed methane (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, coal seam gas (CSG), or coal-mine methane (CMM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Au ...

energy projects in the

Surat Basin The Surat Basin is a geological basin in eastern Australia. It is part of the Great Artesian Basin drainage basin of Australia. The Surat Basin extends across an area of 270,000 square kilometres and the southern third of the basin occupies a lar ...

. In October 2014,

JETGO Australia JETGO Australia was a regional airline and air charter company based at Eagle Farm, Queensland near Brisbane Airport. The airline operated scheduled domestic passenger services in the Eastern states of Australia, which were suspended when the ...

announced direct jet services to

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 ...

to begin in November as one of two destinations to launch the airline's expansion into scheduled public transport flights. After delaying starting the route until December, on 20 November the company announced that due to slow bookings and the slowing of the local resources industry that they were cancelling the planned services.

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

*On the evening of 28 September 1989, a

Beechcraft Baron The Beechcraft Baron is a light twin-engined piston aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft was introduced in 1961. A low-wing monoplane developed from the Travel Air, it remains in production. Design and development The d ...

flying from

Longreach Longreach is a town and a locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and Isisford ...

to Roma failed to arrive at the airport. No distress call was received. A search and rescue operation located wreckage west of Roma, with the aircraft having descended into trees for unknown reasons. The five occupants were killed in the accident. *On 25 March 2013 a similar accident occurred killing former

bull riding Bull riding is a rodeo sport that involves a rider getting on a bucking bull and attempting to stay mounted while the animal tries to buck off the rider. American bull riding has been called "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports." To recei ...

world champion John Quintana and the CEO of livestock brokerage firm Ray White Rural when the

Cessna 210 The Cessna 210 Centurion is a six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear, single-engined, high-wing general-aviation aircraft. First flown in January 1957, it was produced by Cessna until 1986. Design and development The early Cessn ...

aircraft they were travelling in crashed shortly after takeoff from Roma prior to first light without broadcasting a distress call.

References

External links

Airport Guide
Airports in Queensland South West Queensland {{Queensland-airport-stub

History

Airlines and destinations

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

External links