1921 Australia's first scheduled air mail service Australia's first scheduled air mail service commenced on 5 December 1921 with a flight from Geraldton to
Derby by West Australian Airways Ltd, flown by
World War I veterans Maj. Norman Brearley DSO, MC, AFC and Lt. Len Taplin in a
Bristol Tourer. The airfield was originally located in what is now the Geraldton suburb of
Utakarra before later moving to its current location in Moonyoonooka.
World War II From 1941 to 1945, Geraldton Airport (by now located in
Moonyoonooka) was the site of
No. 4 Service Flying Training School RAAF during
World War II. The training school was formed in February 1941 and commenced flying the following month, responsible for intermediate and advanced instruction of pilots under the
Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). The school operated
Avro Anson aircraft and by November 1941, two
Fairey Battles and two
de Havilland Fox Moths also operated at No. 4 SFTS. In August 1943, No. 4 SFTS had a visit from an
Avro Lancaster, "Queenie VI". Two reserve squadrons were formed in response to the outbreak of
war in the Pacific, though they never saw action. Flying activity was reduced towards the end of 1943, and the school was disbanded in May 1945, having graduated over 1,000 pilots. It re-formed as No. 87 Operational Base Unit, which was renamed Care and Maintenance Unit (CMU) Geraldton in May 1946. CMU Geraldton was disbanded in September 1947.
1945 Douglas DC-3 service commencement In 1945,
MacRobertson Miller Aviation Company (MMA) began
Douglas DC-3 services to Geraldton with flight time of less than 2 hours to Perth. DC-3 services continued into the early 1960s.
1960s Fokker F-27 Friendship service commencement, Qantas B707 alternative landing site In December 1959,
MMA commenced flying the
Fokker F27 to Geraldton, increasing passenger seats to 40 and halving the flight time to Perth to about one hour. The first F27 flight by MMA to Geraldton was by Captain Syd Goddard, a graduate of the former No. 4 Service Flying School which was based at Geraldton during World War II. In 1962, Geraldton Airport was approved as an alternative landing airport should Perth Airport be unavailable, for
Qantas Boeing 707s, one of the largest commercial airliners at the time.
1979 Brearley Terminal opens The new Brearley Terminal, named after
Sir Norman Brearley opens.
1985 BAE-146 service commencement In 1985, MMA (now known as
Airlines of Western Australia, a subsidiary of
Ansett) introduced 75-seat
BAE-146 aircraft to the Geraldton-Perth route, complementing the existing
F-28 services.
1988 Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visit On 22 April 1988,
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the
Duke of Edinburgh visited Geraldton to proclaim Geraldton a City (formerly the Town of Geraldton).
2004 Fokker F100 (Skywest) service commencement In June 2004,
Skywest Airlines introduced
Fokker F100 100-seat aircraft onto the Geraldton-Perth route to complement their existing F50 services.
2014 Qantas Fokker F100 services commence In July 2014, Qantas commenced
QantasLink Fokker 100 jet services on the Geraldton-Perth route, operated by
Network Aviation 2018-2019 Airport expansion In 2019, the
City of Greater Geraldton completed a $24 million project to expand the capacity of Geraldton Airport, with works that commenced in November 2018. The expansion project included the renewal and upgrade of the existing runway, taxiway and apron pavements as well as extension of the main runway to 2,389 metres and expansion of the main apron to accommodate larger aircraft such as the
A330 and
B787. Geraldton Airport will also have greater capacity as an alternative landing port for Perth Airport in the case of fog or bad weather. The city also stated that the expansion will enable development of direct interstate and international services for tourism and airfreight, and should give the private sector greater confidence to invest in Geraldton. The expansion of Geraldton Airport commenced November 2018 and was completed in June 2019, with WBHO Infrastructure being awarded the construction contract. Funding for the project consisted of: • $7.5 million contributed by the City of Greater Geraldton • $6.5 million contributed by the
Western Australian State Government • $10 million contributed by the
Australian Government through the Building Better Regions Fund The airport runway extensions were officially opened on Friday 6 September 2019 by Federal Member for Durack the
Hon. Melissa Price MP, City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane van Styn and Member for the Agricultural Region
Hon. Laurie Graham MLC.
2019 Virgin Australia RPT service cessation In May 2019,
Virgin Australia Regional Airlines announced it would cease operating their Perth to Geraldton RPT route from 21 July 2019, leaving QantasLink as the sole major airline servicing Geraldton. Virgin Australia cited declining customer numbers as the reason for the decision.
Bureau of Infrastructure & Transport Research Economics statistics show that in the six months prior to July 2019 (January–June), Virgin Australia's average on-time performance for both arrivals and departures was only 75%, compared to Qantas' performance of 85.2% for arrivals and 90.7% for departures on the same route. As of April 2023 Virgin Australia still provides regular charter flights between Geraldton and locations including
Boolgeeda,
Perth and
Busselton.
2021 Airbus A320 service commencement In August 2021, Qantas began upgrading some of their Fokker 100 RPT services to 180-seat Airbus A320s. Qantas plans to replace their
Fokker 100 and
Boeing 717 fleets with the A320 and A220 on their respective routes.
2022 Geraldton-Karratha direct flight announcement In May 2022, the
Western Australian Government announced funding in the 2022-23 State Budget to expand the Inter-Regional Flight Network (IRFN), with a new direct flight between
Geraldton and
Karratha, operated by
Aviair and commencing in July 2022. Aviair planned to introduce
Dash-8 Q400 aircraft to their fleet to support the new route and overall Inter-Regional Flight Network. In May 2023, Aviair and the WA Government announced the service would finally commence in July 2023 through Aviair's new subsidiary,
Nexus Airlines.
2023 Boeing 737-700 Virgin Australia announced in April 2022 plans to retire their Fokker 100 fleet and replace them with
Boeing 737-700s. In April 2023, Virgin Australia began using Boeing 737-700 aircraft on some charter flights to and from Geraldton to Boolgeeda and Perth.
2023 Nexus Airlines On 17 May 2023, the
WA Government and
Aviair announced the launch of a new airline,
Nexus Airlines, a subsidiary of Aviair, to operate the new and previously announced
Geraldton-
Karratha Inter-Regional Flight Network (IRFN) route, as well as launch a new service on the Geraldton-
Perth route. Nexus Airlines operate a fleet of five 76-seat
Dash-8 Q400 aircraft on the routes, and commenced services on 10 July 2023. == Airport Renewable Energy Microgrid Power Project ==