History
After the formation of the Tasmanian Aero Club in 1927, the first air travel facility in Tasmania was built on the site. In July 1929 the Home Territories Department acquired land at the Western Junction, then also called Valley of Springs, for a £20,400 ($41,000) aerodrome. The Western Junction Aerodrome was officially opened in 1929 and opened for use in 1930. In February 1931, around 20,000 people crammed into Evandale Road to watch Colonel Brinsmead, Controller of Civil Aviation, officially open Western Junction as a government aerodrome. During 1932 small aircraft flew from Launceston to Flinders Island.
From August 1940 until late 1944, the airport used by the Royal Australian Air Force as a base for No. 7 Elementary Flying Training School. It was Tasmania's only RAAF Base. Two of the Bellman hangars from this period are still located at the airport, on the southern Freight and GA operations area.
In 1962 under the leadership of Tony John OAM, a plan for major redevelopment of the airport was approved. This included strengthening of all pavements, a runway extension, and a new terminal building. The airport was officially reopened that same year as Launceston Airport. In October 1982 the runway was further upgraded to Boeing 767 standard. In 1998, the airport was privatized, and is now owned jointly by Launceston City Council and Australia Pacific Airports Corporation Limited, which also owns Melbourne Airport. The collapse of Ansett Australia in 2001, the introduction of Virgin Blue (now Virgin Australia) and the Qantas subsidiary Jetstar Airways in 2001 and 2004; and the creation of the Australian low cost airline market; have all contributed to a dramatic increase in aircraft movements at Launceston Airport. In 2007 the airport reached the milestone of one million passenger movements per year. Tiger Airways Australia also introduced services, and withdrew again in July 2010.
Read more about this topic: Launceston Airport
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