Busselton Margaret River Airport (IATA: BQB[2], ICAO: YBLN), formerly known as Busselton Regional Airport, is located in the Busselton suburb of Yalyalup, 6.5 km (4.0 mi) from the town centre. Busselton is a major regional centre in the South West of Western Australia, 220 km (140 mi) south of Perth and at the edge of the Margaret River wine region.
In 2007, Rio Tinto launched its first flight from the airport for fly-in fly-out workers at its mines.[6] Skywest Airlines/Virgin Australia Regional Airlines operated a service from Perth to Albany via Busselton from July 2011 until December 2014, before scaling it back to operate between Perth and Busselton before cancelling it altogether in April 2015.[7][8][9]
Between June and December 2014, upgrades to the terminal were made.[10] In June 2015, funding was allocated for further upgrades and redevelopment of the airport. As part of the funding agreement, Margaret River was officially added to the title of the airport in October 2015.[11] In 2017, a $69.7 million redevelopment of the airport commenced which included:
lengthening, widening and strengthening of the existing runway to facilitate Code E aircraft;
a new 4 bay Code E aircraft parking apron and connecting taxiways;
a new passenger terminal;
a new general aviation precinct;
upgrades to the existing Code C apron
new aeronautical ground lighting;
new parking facilities;
upgrades to the internal road network; and
infrastructure to support the development of freight and commercial opportunities.
As part of the development, a new terminal building was proposed to be built in front of the new Code E Apron to help facilitate future interstate and international services. In early 2018, the Government of Western Australia placed the construction of the new terminal building on hold until a major commercial airline committed to interstate services that were shown to be viable.[12][13]
In September 2019, it was announced that Jetstar was to launch a subsidised service to Melbourne in April 2020.[12][14] As a result of the service confirmation, the Western Australian government announced it would spend an extra $3.2 million upgrading the airport's terminal.[14][15][16] The commencement of the service was postponed eight times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Flights began as part of a three-year trial of the route on 6 April 2022.[17] The terminal upgrade was also postponed until after the three-year trial period.[18]
In 2023, there were renewed calls to upgrade the terminal before the conclusion of the three-year trial period after the success of the new service and increases in mining flights, with annual passenger numbers jumping from 25,000 before the pandemic to 95,000 by 2023.[18] In March 2024 Jetstar commenced flights to Sydney after the success of the Melbourne service.[20][21] In June 2024, a new Royal Flying Doctor Service facility opened.[22]
Busselton is home to the largest fly-in fly-out workforce in Western Australia outside Perth, resulting in the airport seeing numerous mining charters for BHP, Fortescue and Rio Tinto each week.[23]
Busselton Margaret River Airport has a single 2,460 metre long by 45 metre wide runway (03/21) and is rated at Code E with capability to handle aircraft the size and weight of an Airbus A330.[26]
^ abThomas, Geoffrey; de Kruijff, Peter (30 September 2019). "Vic-Busso flights to take off". The West Australian. Retrieved 30 September 2019. After almost two years of negotiations, Jetstar agreed to operate a heavily subsidised flight from Melbourne to Busselton. The direct link connecting Victorians to the Margaret River region will start in April.
