Learmonth Airport

This article is about the civilian aerodrome. For the military air base, see RAAF Base Learmonth.

Learmonth Airport
Summary
Airport typeCivil aviation
OwnerDepartment of Defence
OperatorShire of Exmouth
ServesExmouth, Western Australia
Elevation AMSL19 ft / 6 m
Coordinates22°14′09″S 114°05′19″E / 22.23583°S 114.08861°E / -22.23583; 114.08861
WebsiteLearmonth Airport
Map
YPLM is located in Western Australia
YPLM
YPLM
Location in Western Australia
Map
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
18/36 3,047 9,997 Asphalt/concrete
Statistics (2012/13[1])
Passengers90,861
Aircraft movements1,938
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[2]
Passenger and aircraft movements from the BITRE[3]

Learmonth Airport (IATA: LEA, ICAO: YPLM) is a civil airport, co-located on the site of RAAF Base Learmonth, a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base. The airport is located near the town of Exmouth on the north-west coast of Western Australia, in Australia.

Established in the 1940s as an airfield, the current airport is operated by the Shire of Exmouth under a lease from the Australian Government Department of Defence and occupies an area of 23.9 hectares (59 acres) on the RAAF Base Learmonth site. The terminal opened on 3 December 1999.[4]

On 7 October 2008, Qantas Flight 72 made an emergency landing at RAAF Learmonth. On 1 June 2012, an AirAsia X flight to Perth made an emergency landing at Learmonth Airport for refuelling.[5] Learmonth is designated an emergency alternative airport in the case of fog or bad weather affecting Perth Airport.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference fiscal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ YPLM – Learmonth (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 13 June 2024, Aeronautical Chart Archived 11 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference BITRE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "About the Airport". Shire of Exmouth. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Computer fault blamed for QF72 Qantas nose dive". Australian Aviation. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  6. ^ "First steps to second Perth airport". Perth Now. 24 September 2013. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013.