Cairns Airport is an international airport in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Formerly operated by the Cairns Port Authority, the airport was sold by the Queensland Government in December 2008 to a private consortium. It is the seventh busiest airport in Australia. The airport is located north northwest Cairns Airport served over 4.8 million passengers in the financial year of 2024.
A$200 million redevelopment of the Domestic Terminal started in August 2007 and was completed in 2010. Check-in facilities were expanded into a common-user facility for all airlines, and the building enlarged. Five new jet bridges replaced the existing three old bridges. In January 2010, Auckland International Airport Limited announced that it had purchased 24.6 per cent of North Queensland Airports (NQA), operator of the airports at Cairns and Mackay, for about $132 million.
A further upgrade of the Domestic Terminal commenced in 2019 and was completed in August 2020, at a total cost of $55 million. The main purpose of the upgrade was to prepare the terminal to handle the domestic portion of the airport's projected 6 million passengers annually from 2027.
Virgin Australia launched daily direct service to Tokyo-Haneda on 28 June 2023 with the newly arrived Boeing 737 Max 8 fleet. However, due to low demand, the route was removed on 24 February 2025.
In early 2023, it was announced that the International Terminal (Terminal 1) would undergo its first major upgrade in April 2023 to a value of AUD$55 million. The announced upgrades would be rolled out in stages to 'minimise passenger disruptions', the first of which would feature the installation of four new glass air-bridges and the re-cladding of the exterior of the building.
In December 2023, the airport was affected by Tropical Cyclone Jasper forcing it to close for several days. In March 2024, it was announced that both Cairns and Mackay Airports would run on 100% renewable energy sources from 2025.
A large and dedicated air-freight terminal termed the: 'Cairns Regional Trade Distribution Centre' was announced by the Queensland State Government Ministers in 2022. This facility will feature a 2400 square meter freight logistics hub and aim to improve the AU$40.4 million in food and agricultural exports through the airport. This is situated partially atop the former general aviation runway 12/30.
thumb|Paronamic view of Cairns Airport, including airplanes of [[Qantas, QantasLink, Virgin Blue and Air New Zealand]]
Runways
The airport has a single runway (15/33) which is long. The flight path to the north of the main runway is located directly overhead Cairns' northern beach suburbs. The flight path to the south is located directly over central Cairns. A smaller () runway 12/30 that was used for general aviation lies to the east; its final approach crossed the main runway. As of April 2011 this runway was closed and had been converted to a helipad area before the freight terminal's construction.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger
<!-- Please use independent sources, not the airport or airline as they are not independent. -->thumb|Domestic Terminal, 2022
thumb|Cairns Airport on departure in 2025 with the new air-freight complex under construction
Cargo
Other tenants
There are operators of emergency medical retrieval and rescue services based at the airport, including Emergency Management Queensland and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Statistics
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Annual passenger statistics for Cairns Airport
! Year !! Domestic !! International !! Total !! Change
|-
| 1998
| 1,915,717 || 688,058 || 2,603,775 || –2.2%
|-
| 1999
| 2,022,908 || 660,659 || 2,683,567 || 3.1%
|-
| 2000
| 2,132,713 || 680,133 || 2,812,846 || 4.8%
|-
| 2001
| 2,025,193 || 665,118 || 2,690,311 || –4.4%
|-
| 2002
| 2,087,643 || 766,256 || 2,853,899 || 6.1%
|-
| 2003
| 2,246,566 || 746,561 || 2,993,127 || 4.9%
|-
| 2004
| 2,582,591 || 846,846 || 3,429,437 || 14.6%
|-
| 2005
| 2,842,947 || 862,184 || 3,705,131 || 8.0%
|-
| 2006
| 2,967,077 || 791,709 || 3,758,786 || 1.4%
|-
| 2007
| 3,066,414 || 702,048 || 3,768,462 || 0.3%
|-
| 2008
| 3,153,171 || 595,461 || 3,748,632 || –0.5%
|-
| 2009
| 3,133,393 || 404,803 || 3,538,196 || –5.6%
|-
| 2010
| 3,254,097 || 495,873 || 3,749,970 || 6.0%
|-
| 2011
| 3,361,097 || 504,072 || 3,865,169 || 3.1%
|-
| 2012
| 3,569,195 || 511,359 || 4,080,554 || 5.6%
|-
| 2013
| 3,754,331 || 492,091 || 4,246,422 || 4.1%
|-
| 2014
| 3,857,399 || 460,910 || 4,318,309 || 1.7%
|-
| 2015
| 3,975,309 || 545,733 || 4,521,042 || 4.7%
|-
| 2016
| 4,208,221 || 642,293 || 4,850,514 || 7.3%
|-
| 2017
| 4,278,311 || 662,173 || 4,940,484 || 1.9%
|-
| 2018
| 4,283,247 || 662,551 || 4,945,798 || 0.1%
|-
| 2019
| 4,126,357 || 651,824 || 4,778,181 || –3.4%
|-
| 2020
| 1,587,304 || 119,221 || 1,706,525 || –64.3%
|-
| 2021
| 2,312,189 || 2,490 || 2,314,679 || 35.6%
|-
| 2022
| 3,672,627 || 135,262 || 3,807,889 || 64.5%
|-
|2023
|3,842,622
|322,541
|4,292,670
| 11%
|-
|2024
|4,091,700
|625,941
|4,717,641
| 11.1%
|-
|2025
|4,038,102
|665,872
|4,875,498
| 3.35%
|}
Domestic
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 100%" width= align=
|+Busiest Domestic Routes – Cairns Airport 2024
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
! Rank|| Airport || Number of passengers|| % change
|-
| 1 || Brisbane || 1,305,500 ||
|-
| 2 || Sydney || 919,200 ||
|-
| 3 || Melbourne || 824,800 ||
|}
International
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 100%" width= align=
|+ Busiest international routes – Cairns Airport 2024
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
! Rank|| Airport || Passengers handled || % change
|-
| 1 || Tokyo || 261,086 ||
|-
| 2 || Osaka || 123,151 ||
|-
| 3 || Singapore || 95,114
||
|-
| 4 || Denpasar || 78,727 ||
|-
| 5 || Port Moresby || 37,284 ||
|-
| 6 || Auckland || 26,176 ||
|-
| 7 || Hong Kong || 2,637 ||
|-
| 8 || Shanghai || 1,156 ||
|}
Cargo
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 100%" width= align=
|+ Busiest International freight routes of Cairns Airport (*route suspended) (2019)
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
! Rank|| Airport || Freight handled (tonnes) || % change
|-
|1||||1678.9||
|-
|2||||1156.2||
|-
|3||||309.9||
|-
|4||||252.4||
|-
|5*||||145.5||
|-
|6*||||108.3||
|-
|7||||68.2||
|-
|8||||33.5||
|}
Ground transport
;Taxi
Ranks are located near both the International and Domestic Terminals. Cairns Taxis taxi ranks are located immediately outside the International and Domestic Terminals.
;Bus
Airport shuttle bus services to hotels, city centre, Northern Beaches, Palm Cove, Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation are available.
;Parking
Short-term and long-term parking, including a covered car park and parking for people with a disability are located within the public carparks adjacent to both the Domestic and International Terminals.
Proposed Transport Links
Cairns Metro/Airport Link
A link from the Airport to the City has been proposed as a bus line or a metro line
Accidents and incidents
- On 12 August 2024, a 23 year old employee of Nautilus Aviation gained access to a Robinson R44 helicopter at around 1:30 AM and departed from Cairns Airport on an unauthorised flight. The man, who held a New Zealand pilot's licence, made a number of low altitude passes over the Cairns Esplanade before crashing into the roof of the Doubletree by Hilton Cairns. 400 hotel guests were evacuated following with accident, with two treated for smoke inhalation. Investigators found the pilot, who was killed in the accident, was "affected by a significant amount of alcohol" at the time of the flight.
See also
- United States Army Air Forces in Australia (World War II)
- Transportation in Australia
- List of airports in Queensland