A Look At Ayers Rock Airport

Also known as Connellan Airport (AYQ), Ayers Rock Airport is in the heart of the outback, only 20 minutes from the world-famous Uluru, Ayers Rock. The airport, on average, sees around 300,000 passengers per year.

With one main terminal, passengers land or take off on the 2,599 meters (8,500 ft) runway, with current carriers Jetstar or Qantas. While Virgin Australia used to serve the airport, their services were suspended in 2020.

In the 1940’s Edward Connellan, a gentleman that founded Connellan Airways constructed an airport near Uluru, and soon enough, in the 1950s, tourism infrastructure surrounding Ayers Rock meant that a decision was made to move the airport and other facilities outside the national park.

The new airport and area was to be known as Yulara and became operational in 1984.

Taking off from the Red Center

While several routes have been axed over the years, including those of Virgin Australia, Qantas had promised to resume its direct Adelaide and Darwin services after the pandemic. However, these are yet to come to fruition.

Currently, Qantas and its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar are the only commercial operators at the airport operating inter-state services. Jetstar flies to the three main centers on Australia’s East Coast, Sydney, and Melbourne, alongside Brisbane, which only joined the pack this June. A flight from Sydney to Uluru takes around three hours, Cairns for two hours and 50 minutes, or Brisbane for three hours and 15 minutes. International travelers that aim to connect from their long-haul services will most likely transfer through one of Australia’s hubs on its East Coast.

Australian flag carrier, Qantas, maintains the most services from the airport, with flights available to Cairns and Sydney with its mainline fleet and Qantas Link services, operating to Alice Springs and Cairns. The largest aircraft to visit the airport are usually Qantas’ Boeing 737-800 or Jetstar’s Airbus A320s.

Alice Springs, another popular airport for travelers looking to get to Australia’s red center, is some 450km (279 miles) to the North and is served by a range of additional carriers, including Alliance Airlines, Air North, Qantas, and Virgin Australia. However, it is some five and a half hours from Uluru.

Photo: Ryan Fletcher I Shutterstock.

A visit from the Olympic Torch

When Sydney hosted the Olympic Games in 2000, Ayers Rock was one of many destinations that saw the Olympic Torch. An Ansett Australia Airbus A320 arrived from Auckland International Airport, New Zealand, for the inaugural Australian leg of its journey, where the torch was run around Ayers Rock before a formal ceremony afterward.