Port Macquarie Airport

Coordinates: 31°26′09″S 152°51′48″E / 31.43583°S 152.86333°E / -31.43583; 152.86333
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Port Macquarie Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorPort Macquarie-Hastings Council
ServesPort Macquarie, New South Wales
Hub forEastern Air Services
Elevation AMSL15 ft / 5 m
Coordinates31°26′09″S 152°51′48″E / 31.43583°S 152.86333°E / -31.43583; 152.86333
Websitehttps://www.portmacquarieairport.com.au
Map
YPMQ is located in New South Wales
YPMQ
YPMQ
Location in New South Wales
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03/21 1,800 5,906 Asphalt
Statistics (2017–18[1])
Passengers222,534
Aircraft movements4,821
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart.[2] Passengers and aircraft movements from BITRE.[3]

Port Macquarie Airport (IATA: PQQ, ICAO: YPMQ) is an airport in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia. The airport is 2.25 nautical miles (4.17 km; 2.59 mi) west[2] of the city centre and is owned and managed by the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council on behalf of its owners - the constituents of the Hastings. The ownership is not to be confused with the Port Macquarie Airport Proprietary Limited. The airport had 222,534 revenue passengers, the 32nd busiest in Australia, and 4,821 aircraft movements in 2017–2018.[3]

Airlines and destinations[edit]

AirlinesDestinations
Bonza Melbourne[4]
Eastern Air Services Lord Howe Island
QantasLink Brisbane, Sydney
Rex Airlines Sydney

Virgin Australia[edit]

On 4 February 2008, Virgin Blue (now Virgin Australia) commenced direct scheduled services between Sydney and Port Macquarie. The flights operated daily in the morning. The service used to be operated by an Embraer E-170 aircraft, and was the first scheduled jet service for the airport. Connections were offered to all major Australian cities via Sydney. An increase to twice-daily service commenced 4 August 2008.[5]

Competition by Virgin resulted in a significant drop in fare prices for the Port Macquarie - Sydney route, where Qantas previously operated a monopoly after Hazelton Airlines ceased services in 2001.[6]

On 28 July 2011, Virgin Australia (in partnership with Skywest Airlines) announced its intention to commence a daily Brisbane to Port Macquarie service from October 2011. On 19 October 2011, Virgin Australia's ATR 72 departed on its first flight to Brisbane. The airline also announced that, as a result of the removal of Embraer 170 aircraft from its fleet, Sydney to Port Macquarie services would also be operated by ATR72 aircraft.[7][8]

Both routes have since been withdrawn due to the removal of ATR72 aircraft from the Virgin Australia fleet in 2020.

Aircraft operations[edit]

Busiest domestic routes into and out of Port Macquarie (year ending December 2016[1])[9]
Rank Airport Passengers % change Carriers
1 Sydney no data yet no data yet REX, QantasLink
2 Brisbane no data yet no data yet QantasLink
3 Canberra no data yet no data yet FlyPelican
4 Lord Howe Island no data yet no data yet Eastern Air Services

Connections to Brisbane (via Coffs Harbour) by Brindabella Airlines ceased 31 December 2010, citing poor loads on the route.[10] Despite this, Virgin Australia entered the route on 19 October 2011 as a daily service with their ATR72 aircraft.[8]

In February 2022, Bonza announced that the airport would become one of its 17 destinations with the airline planning to fly to the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne from Port Macquarie.[11]

Statistics[edit]

Annual passenger traffic at PQQ airport. See Wikidata query.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Fiscal year 1 July – 30 June
  2. ^ a b YPMQ – Port Macquarie (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 21 March 2024, Aeronautical Chart Archived 11 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b "Airport Traffic Data 1985-86 to 2010-11". Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). May 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"
  4. ^ "Bonza April/May 2023 Melbourne Network Additions". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  5. ^ Virgin Blue > News and Press Releases Archived 5 February 2013 at archive.today
  6. ^ Virgin Blue > News and Press Releases Archived 5 February 2013 at archive.today
  7. ^ Virgin Australia to expand Regional Network (Blog) Archived 19 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b Virgin Australia Expands Regional Network Adding Gladstone and Port Macquarie and Increased Canberra Services
  9. ^ "Australian Domestic Airline Activity 2010-11". Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"
  10. ^ Brindabella Airlines to exit Port Macquarie Archived 17 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Bonza Announces New Destinations". Bay939Radio. Bay939. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.

External links[edit]