Emerald Airport Guide

Emerald Airport serves the Central Highlands of Queensland, a region built on coal mining, cotton, grain and cattle. It sits on the Gregory Highway, also called Springsure Road, and its ICAO code is YEML. The Central Highlands Regional Council owns and runs the field.

Scheduled flying is domestic only, and Brisbane is the main route. QantasLink and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines together average 54 return services to Brisbane each week, and Alliance Airlines adds links to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. Much of the traffic is mining and resource workers moving to and from sites across the Bowen Basin.

Two asphalt runways cross at the site. Runway 06/24 is 1,900 m long and takes regional jets and turboprops such as the Fokker 100 and Dash 8 Q400. Runway 15/33 is 926 m long. Passenger numbers grew from about 70,000 in 2005 to more than 280,000 in 2012 and 2013, tracking the mining boom. The latest council-sourced count, from 2014, was 246,074. A $7.7 million project completed in late 2010 extended the terminal, refurbished the older section and added security upgrades and a flight information system.