The airport was built by the
Department of Civil Aviation in 1929 as a fuel stop for
West Australian Airways which had won a government contract to carry mail between
Adelaide and
Perth using the
de Havilland Hercules. In the 1930s the Douglas airliner
Bungana, also known as the mail plane, was a regular visitor on interstate flights. During
World War II it was operated by the
Royal Australian Air Force as a transit and fuel stop, and a communications base. and has been the site of various military visits to the location over time. ==Current usage==