Wagga Wagga Airport

Wagga Wagga Airport RAAF Base Wagga
Wagga Wagga Airport terminal
IATA: WGA ICAO: YSWG
Summary
Airport type	Military/Public
Owner	Department of Defence
Operator	Wagga Wagga City Council
Serves	Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
Location	Forest Hill, New South Wales
Elevation AMSL	724 ft / 221 m
Coordinates	35°09′55″S 147°27′59″E / 35.16528°S 147.46639°E / -35.16528; 147.46639Coordinates: 35°09′55″S 147°27′59″E / 35.16528°S 147.46639°E / -35.16528; 147.46639
Website	www.wagga.nsw.gov.au
Map
YSWG Location in New South Wales
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 05/23 1,768 5,801 Asphalt 12/30 894 2,933 Clay
Statistics (2011-12)
Passengers 207,633 Aircraft movements 6,989
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart. Passengers and aircraft movements from BITRE.

Wagga Wagga Airport (IATA: WGA, ICAO: YSWG), is located adjacent to RAAF Base Wagga, and 5.8 nautical miles (10.7 km; 6.7 mi) southeast of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, Australia. The airfield is an operational base, but is leased by the Wagga Wagga City Council on a 30-year lease from the Australian Department of Defence, with RAAF Base Wagga being a ground training base. The airfield is still used by military aircraft, mostly transport aircraft transporting freight or passengers.

Regional Express Airlines maintains its fleet of Saab 340 passenger and freight aircraft at Wagga Wagga Airport.

During 1939, the RAAF were looking to establish an inland training base. Pursuing this, Group Captain A. H. "Harry" Cobby (top scoring World War One ace) contacted Wagga resident Hughie Condon and asked him to suggest possible sites suitable for the establishment of an RAAF station. Condon was well suited to the task, being regional Examiner of Airmen with the Dept. of Defence. He recommended a site at the village of Forest Hill, this being situated about five nautical miles East of Wagga. The site was situated above the Murrumbidgee flood plain and was of suitable dimension. It was already serviced by rail, offered frontage to the Sturt Highway, and was sufficiently distant from the town of Wagga Wagga. Cobby flew to inspect the site, arriving in an RAAF Avro Anson. He agreed with Condon's assessment and the go-ahead was soon given. The identified land was resumed from the Brunskill and Lyons families in the first half of 1939 and before long, a Fearnes bus was shuttling workers to the site. It is of note that this was planned as a permanent base and preceded the Empire Air Training Scheme. At this time the Wagga Wagga Council (not yet a city) operated a civilian aerodrome. This was located on Hammond Avenue, East Wagga. Many other councils had hoped to host the new base. The Mayor of Junee, H.G. Weaver, claimed that Junee was a better choice. He said that Junee was less susceptible to fog, had flatter surrounding terrain and could offer railway workshops (the roundhouse) for aircraft repair. The mayor of Narromine was unhappy that his suggested site was not even inspected. The building layout was carefully designed so as to enable the aircraft landing area to have potential for 'all over' operations. Aircraft could potentially touch down anywhere, in any direction, according to the pilots' operational needs. RAAF Forest Hill became operational on 29 July 1940 and initially was home to 2SFTS. Service Flying Training Schools conducted advanced training of graduates of the Elementary Flying Training Schools. At the close of WW2, civilian flying recommenced. A decision was made to accommodate civilian flying operations at Forest Hill. A Bellman hangar was allocated for civilian use and Mobil/Vacuum installed an aircraft refuelling facility. At this time the council aerodrome on Hammond Avenue fell into disuse. With new transport aircraft, such as the Convair Metropolitan, coming into widespread use, it was decided to construct a bitumen runway. This was timed so as to be completed for Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Wagga in 1954.