Ballina Byron Gateway Airport | |||||||||||
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Summary | |||||||||||
Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
Operator | Ballina Shire Council | ||||||||||
Location | Ballina, New South Wales | ||||||||||
Opened | October 1986 | ||||||||||
Elevation AMSL | 7 ft / 2 m | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 28°50′00″S 153°33′42″E / 28.83333°S 153.56167°E | ||||||||||
Website | ballinabyronairport.com.au | ||||||||||
Map | |||||||||||
Runways | |||||||||||
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Statistics (March 2022–23) | |||||||||||
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Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (IATA: BNK, ICAO: YBNA) is a regional airport located at Ballina, New South Wales, Australia. It is owned and operated by Ballina Shire Council. It opened in October 1986.[3]
It serves Ballina and the nearby town of Byron Bay, a 20-minute drive north. Ballina Byron Airport handled 650,323 passengers between March 2022 and March 2023 making it the 16th busiest airport in Australia.[4]
It is 5 km (3 mi) from the Ballina CBD, in Southern Cross Drive. An occasional bus service operates to and from the airport, except on Christmas Day.
In 2005 Ballina Airport was renamed Ballina Byron Gateway Airport in a bid to attract more people to the area.[5]
In 2022 a new access road was constructed along with upgrades to the car parking and pedestrian access.[6] Further upgrades are proposed in the short-medium term to support the increasing passenger volumes including expanding the check-in area, expanding the departure hall and providing additional retail facilities, expanding the baggage collection capacity and additional taxiways, private aircraft terminal, air control tower and additional jet parking bays.[7]