RAAF base RAAF squadrons were permanently based at the Canberra Aerodrome from 1939. The base was formally established as
RAAF Station Canberra on 1 April 1940. In 1941 part of the airport was named
Fairbairn Airbase after the late Minister for Air and Civil Aviation
James Fairbairn, Member of the
Australian House of Representatives, who was killed in
an aircraft crash in the proximity of the airfield on 13 August 1940. A joint
Dutch East Indies-Australian
medium bomber unit,
No. 18 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF was formed at Fairbairn on 4 April 1942, paving the way for other such units. 18 (NEI) Sqn was drawn initially from two groups of ethnic
Dutch and
Indonesian personnel, who had been evacuated from
Japanese occupied Indonesia to either
RAAF Archerfield, Queensland or Melbourne. Under the command of
Lieutenant Colonel B. J. Fiedeldij of the
Military Aviation of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (
KNIL-ML), the staff of 18 (NEI) Sqn was complemented by a number of RAAF personnel, including both aviators and ground staff. After it had become fully operational with
North American B-25 Mitchells, 18 (NEI) RAAF was deployed to, and carried out missions throughout the
South West Pacific theatre. The base became
Headquarters RAAF Canberra in 1952. In December 1960 the base was selected as the locality for the
RAAF Staff College, and in 1962, the area was renamed
RAAF Base Fairbairn. Fairbairn was an important location for military helicopter training, with
No. 5 Squadron RAAF being located there from 1966 until 1989. From 1990 to 1998 the
Australian Defence Force Helicopter School was located at Fairbairn. One of the school's successor units, the
Army Helicopter School, remained at Fairbairn until 2001.
Defence Establishment Fairbairn The Defence Reform Program (DRP) determined the base was no longer required and on 28 May 1998 the lease on the base was sold to Canberra International Airport Pty Ltd. Part of the base was sub-leased back to the Australian Department of Defence on a five-year lease to allow the progressive wind up of operations. The base was decommissioned on 27 June 2003 and the domestic area became known as Defence Establishment Fairbairn, with Canberra International Airport having full control of the airfield and the site. The only remaining military unit is
No. 34 Squadron RAAF, which is responsible for the operations of the RAAF's
VIP transport aircraft that are used to transport Australian officials such as the
Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, the
Governor General, the leader of the opposition and high ranking defence force officers when travelling both internationally or within Australia. Besides being the home base of No 34 Squadron's special purpose VIP
BBJ1s and
Bombardier Challenger 604s, Fairbairn is also regularly used by other defence force aircraft. The airport is used by official aircraft carrying foreign heads of state or government when visiting Canberra, for example when the
US President visits Canberra,
Air Force One lands there. Fairbairn was also home to
No. 28 Squadron (Active Reserve Squadron) until it was relocated to
HMAS Harman when Fairbairn was decommissioned. ==Business park==