A Special Milestone for the Mackay Airport Control Tower and a New Cafe in the Mackay Airport Terminal

Rather topical at the moment with the wet weather - the Air Traffic Controllers in the Mackay Airport Control Tower would certainly have been working hard this week, and as Mackay's Daily Mercury newspaper pointed out, coincidentally, all this weather came as the Airservices Australia Mackay Air Traffic Control Tower celebrated its 40th year of operation.

The landmark octagonal tower on Milton Street was designed to ensure pillars between the glass did not block controllers' views of the runway and to provide a clear line of sight for air traffic controllers. When the Tower was built in the 1970s, Mackay was one of the busiest regional airports in the country, with all Whitsunday tourism traffic passing through. Hamilton Island Airport did not exist and Proserpine was just a minor airfield.

Meanwhile, inside the Mackay Airport terminal building, the sweet smell of coffee and gourmet pastries is floating through the departure lounge. This is as a result of the airport's latest addition - an Aromas cafe and bar which opened this week.

The cafe is one of 13 Aromas cafes around Australia. Mackay Airport's Aromas cafe will be open from around 5.30am to 8.30pm, seven days a week.