Christmas Island Airport

Template:Airport frame Template:Airport title Template:Airport infobox Template:Runway title Template:Runway Template:Airport end frame

Christmas Island Airport (IATA: XCH, ICAO: YPXM) is a small regional airport located on the Australian territory of Christmas Island. Although located on Australian territory, the airport is classified as an international airport for all arrivals, including those from Australia. The airport's location at the top of a hill, with a 2% mid-runway gradient, makes it a challenging landing for pilots.

History

From the late 1940s, when the island was still a British colony administered by Singapore and the Straits Settlements Administration, it was serviced occasionally by RAF Short Sunderland flying boats before the construction of the airport. Landing at Christmas Island in flying boats was difficult, since there is no sheltered port. As a result, aircraft were sometimes damaged landing in the ocean swells, and had to wait for spare parts and engineers to come by ship.

Regional or International?

The term "regional airport" could be somewhat misleading, as Christmas Island Airport is in fact a Category 4 international airport. It is owned by the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS), but is operated under contract by Forte Airport Management (Perth). The Government's decision to contract its airport operations in 2004 resulted in a reduction of the work force, which caused major industrial upheaval on a local basis, seeing Forte Airport Management forced to defend in the Industrial Relations Commission its right to recruit staff under an Australian Workplace Agreement.

The Tampa Crisis

A brief revival of the "old days" happened in 2001 during the "Tampa" crisis when the heightened RAAF traffic was complemented by a large number of DIMIA and media charters. During this incident, traffic at the airport is said to have been "near-continuous". Traffic relating to the processing of refugees and illegal immigrants has been frequent since the days of the "Tampa", and is set to continue with the construction of a permanent processing centre on the island.

After the closure of the casino, the Resort was taken over by the Asia Pacific Space Centre, which developed plans for a satellite launch facility on Christmas Island. The company, with solid financial participation from the Australian Government, had planned to start satellite launches in 2004. Technical staff was to include 350-400 Russian rocket scientists and engineers, and componentry was to be flown in on Antonov 124 and Boeing 747 freighters. To achieve this, the airport would need major extensions, and the Government allocated around A$55m to the task. This included a 600 m runway extension, plus additional taxiways, apron space, and other infrastructure, and resulted in a major review of the airport master plan, which is still current today. The master plan was reviewed on a "significant project" basis, and does not require structural review in the short term. For various reasons, the space project did not reach maturity, and the planned extensions were not carried out.

Current traffic

Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur)
National Jet Systems (Coco Islands, Exmouth, Perth)

Traffic to and from the airport varies greatly. Tourist attractions such as the migration of the Christmas Island red crab and the island's Christmas Island Resort have caused spikes in traffic levels. The construction of an immigration detention centre on the island resulted in a temporary increase in Royal Australian Air Force and Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Australian Department of Immigration arrivals.

External links

This article about an Oceanian airport is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.