Broome International Airport

Broome International Airport (IATA: BME, ICAO: YBRM) is a regional airport located 0.4 nautical miles (0.74 km; 0.46 mi) west of the Broome GPO, Western Australia.

Broome International Airport
IATA: BME ICAO: YBRM
Summary
Airport type	Public
Operator	Broome International Airport
Location	Broome, Western Australia
Elevation AMSL	57 ft / 17 m
Coordinates	17°56′59″S 122°13′40″E
Website	www.broomeair.com.au
Map
YBRM Location in Western Australia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 10/28 2,368 7,769 Asphalt
Statistics (2010/11[1])
Passengers 409,663 Aircraft movements 5,828
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[2] passenger and aircraftmovements from the BITRE[3]

Broome International Airport is the regional hub of the northwestern part of Western Australia. It is considered the gateway to the Kimberley region. In the year ending 30 June 2011 the airport handled 409,663 passengers. It is ranked the 20th busiest airport in Australia.[1][3]

From 18 November 2010 Broome International became a Class D non-radar controlled aerodrome which means that aircraft are separated by air traffic controllers based on estimates provided by pilots and reporting their distances and altitudes from the airfield.

The airport field was attacked on the morning of 3 March 1942, during World War II. The attack on Broome resulted in at least 88 deaths. The airport field was being used by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and allies, the Japanese raid destroyed at least 22 aircraft, parts of which are still on display to this day at Broome Historical Museum.

The airport runway was extended in around 2004–2006. It also has had several upgrades to helicopter infrastructure. It is home to state-of-the-art firefighting equipment.

The airport entry road, Macpherson Road, is named after the man who helped pioneer the town. The road was purpose built for the cable that ran from 200 meters east of vine walking trail at a junction box now enclosed in private property to Broome Court House, formerly Cable House.

The Kimberly Qantas lounge was upgraded in 2014–2015 when the terminal had landscaping and maintenance work carried out.

SilkAir operated 4 charter flights to Broome from Singapore; the first flight began on 22 May 2018 and the last flight operated on 2 June 2018. This was later repeated in 2019.

A Qantas A330 landed in Broome on 14 May 2019 after an electronics failure on QF44 DPS-SYD, making it the largest aircraft to ever land there.

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Airnorth	Darwin, Kununurra
Aviair	Karratha[4]
Qantas	Perth[5] Seasonal: Brisbane,[6] Melbourne, Sydney
QantasLink	Darwin,[7] Perth
SilkAir	Seasonal: Singapore[8]
Skippers Aviation	Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines	Perth[5]

Operations

Busiest domestic routes into and out of Broome Airport
(FY 2012[1])[9]

Rank	Airport	Passengers carried	% change
1	Perth Airport	313,627	2.7

Accidents and incidents

• On 21 January 1974, Douglas C-47A PK-GDC of the Burmah Oil Co was damaged beyond economic repair in an accident.[10]
• On 11 July 2012, a Piper PA-34 Seneca of Golden Eagle Airlines crashed into sand dunes near the runway threshold. The aircraft, registration VH-LCK was operating a scheduled cargo flight to Port Hedland in good weather conditions at night. The pilot who was the sole occupant was killed in the accident.[11] Investigations by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau into the cause of the accident found that the collision was due to a likely loss of engine power.[12][13]

See also

• Attack on Broome
• Australian Overland Telegraph Line
• List of airports in Western Australia
• Submarine communications cable

References

1. Fiscal year 1 July – 30 June
2. YBRM – Broome (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia, effective 21 May 2020, Aeronautical Chart Archived 17 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Airport Traffic Data 1985–86 to 2010–11". Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). May 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2012. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"
4. https://www.aviair.com.au/inter-regional-flight-network/
5. "Broome, Australia to see int'l ops in late 2Q18". ch-aviation. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
6. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-03-31/qantas-to-fly-direct-to-broome-from-brisbane/2635880
7. https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/flying-tourism-boost-for-the-territory/
8. Waddell, Jakeb; Cordingley, Glenn (22 January 2019). "Singapore Airlines' SilkAir to restart Broome to Singapore flights". TheWest.com.au. Archived from the original on 24 October 2019.
9. "Domestic Totals & Top Routes July 2004 – March 2013". Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). May 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013. Refers to "Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations only"
10. "PK-GDC Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
11. "Press Release" (PDF). Golden Eagle Airlines. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
12. "Investigation AO-2012-093". Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
13. "WAToday Online".