Ayers Rock Airport (also known as Connellan Airport) is situated near Yulara, around (5 hrs drive) away from

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, and 20 minutes drive from Uluru / Ayers Rock itself. An average of just under 300,000 passengers pass through this airport each year.

History

The original Connellan Airport at Uluru was provided by Edward Connellan, who founded Connellan Airways in 1942. The development of tourism infrastructure adjacent to the base of Uluru / Ayers Rock that began in the 1950s soon created adverse environmental impacts. It was decided in the early 1970s to remove all accommodation-related tourist facilities from near the base of Uluru / Ayers Rock and re-establish them outside the national park. In 1975, a reservation of of land beyond the national park's northern boundary, from Uluru, was approved for the development of a tourist facility, to be known as Yulara, along with a new airport. The new facilities became fully operational in late 1984. On 6 August 2000, an Ansett Australia

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arrived from

Auckland Airport Auckland Airport is an international airport serving Auckland, the most populous city of New Zealand. It is the largest and busiest airport in the country, with over 18.7 million passengers served in the year ended December 2024. The airpor ...

in New Zealand, carrying the

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for its inaugural Australian leg ahead of the Sydney Olympic Games. From there, the torch was taken for a run around Uluru / Ayers Rock, followed by a formal reception. In March 2010,

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, formerly known as Virgin Blue, is an Australian airline based in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of two active airlines (the other being Virgin Atlantic) to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand, as well as the larger by fleet ...

(at the time Virgin Blue) announced that the airline would start flying to Uluru / Ayers Rock. Flights later commenced from Sydney in August 2010 which also marked the airline's first flight into the red centre operated by Embraer E-190s. In September 2020 Virgin Australia revealed it had dropped seven regional destinations with one of them being Uluru / Ayers Rock. On 6 June 2024 Virgin Australia restarted service from Melbourne. On 7 June 2024 Virgin Australia restarted service from Brisbane. In February 2013,

Qantas Qantas ( ), formally Qantas Airways Limited, is the flag carrier of Australia, and the largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations in Australia and List of largest airlines in Oceania, Oceania. A foundi ...

announced that

Jetstar Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, doing business as, trading as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by the ...

would take over Qantas mainline's Sydney service in April 2013. Jetstar later launched flights from

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in June 2014 and

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in August 2018. Qantas announced in November 2018 that Qantas mainline would return in April 2019 along with 2 news routes from

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and

Darwin Airport Darwin International Airport is a Domestic Airport, domestic and International Airport, international airport serving Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. It is the List of the busiest airports in Australia, eleventh busiest airport in Au ...

; these flights haven't returned after being put on hold in 2020. In May 2021 Qantas revealed that the airline will resume its Sydney flights for the first time since April 2013 in March 2022.

QantasLink QantasLink is a full-service, Regional airline, regional brand of Australian flag carrier airline Qantas. As of 2024, QantasLink provides over 2,000 flights each week to 65 metropolitan, regional and remote destinations across Australia, as wel ...

also has flights from Cairns Airport and Alice Springs Airport.

Facilities

Ayers Rock Airport has one main terminal for scheduled flights. The runway is . It has a simple, single stage lighting system and PAPI. The largest aircraft serving the airport are

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a twinjet, twin-engine narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third-generation derivative of the Boeing 737, it ha ...

jetliners operated by

and

operates

jetliners on its flights to the airport.

Airlines and destinations

References

External links

{{Airports in the Northern Territory Airports in the Northern Territory Airports established in 1984 1984 establishments in Australia MacDonnell Region

History

Facilities

Airlines and destinations

See also

References

External links