Capital Growth

Canberra Airport goes international

The arrival of Canberra’s first widebody international airline service in September marks the denouement of the remarkable transformation of Canberra Airport since its privatisation less than two decades ago.

What was once a rudimentary airstrip laid down in the mid-1920s in the middle of a sheep paddock is now a world-class international airport featuring a brand-new 50,000m2 terminal building, a four and a half star hotel, three business parks and a major retail precinct. It is an airport that in the 2015-16 financial year handled 2. 8 million revenue passenger movements – making Canberra Australia’s eighth busiest – with around 60,000 aircraft movements annually.