History
In 1919, when the England to Australia air race was announced, Parap Airfield was established in the suburb of Parap to act as the Australian Terminal. It operated as two airports, a civilian airport and a military field.
It frequently took hits from Japanese bombing through the Second World War, and was used by the Allies to project air power into the Pacific. The airport hosted Spitfires, Hudson Bombers, Kittyhawks, C-47s, B-24 Liberators, B-17 Fortresses and PBY Catalinas.
In 1945 the Department of Aviation made the existing Darwin military airfield available for civil aviation purpose. As a result, the civilian airport at Parap was closed down and airport operations combined with the military airport.
Between 1950 and 1974 Darwin Airport acted as the primary domestic and international airport for the Northern Territory and a very important stop for airlines flying between Australia, Asia and onwards to Europe. UTA, BOAC, Alitalia and Air India were some airlines that had scheduled services to Darwin. However the introduction of longer range aircraft in the 1970s meant that many airlines did not need to stopover in Darwin, and chose to cease services.
Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin in 1974 and flattened the city. The airport was used to ferry 25,628 people out of Darwin. Darwin Airport was extensively used to assist UN operations in East Timor from 1999, and to support medical evacuations following the 2002 Bali bombings.
The new passenger terminal, with four aerobridges, was opened in December 1991.
Read more about this topic: Darwin International Airport
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