Saturday, October 26, 2013

Hervey Bay Airport Fraser Coast - Some Information and Plane Spotting Photos

Brisbane-based plane spotter - and fan and contributor to the Central Queensland Plane Spotting Blog - Brendan B has sent through some plane spotting photos he captured during a recent visit to Hervey Bay Airport.


Hervey Bay Airport (HVB, YHBA) is the main airport for Hervey Bay, as well as the Fraser Coast region of Queensland which also incorporates the nearby cities of Maryborough and Bundaberg.  The airport has one main runway designated 11/29 measuring 2000m × 30m.

The airport, which is located around 9km or 15 minutes from the Hervey Bay town centre, re-opened in mid-2005, after the existing airport underwent an $11.5 million upgrade, which included the construction of a new terminal building, and the extension of the existing 1500m runway to 2000m to accommodate jet services from Jetstar and Virgin Australia.


Up until September 2006, Sunshine Express Airlines provided daily services to Hervey Bay Airport from Brisbane. The airline ceased all scheduled operations in October 2006 after a proposed acquisition by Regional Express Airlines was terminated, and an intention by QantasLink for the introduction of Brisbane services was announced.

Currently, QantasLink operates between 2-4 daily return services to Hervey Bay from Brisbane each week with Dash-8-Q300 and Dash-8-Q400 aircraft.

QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 Next Gen VH-LQF

Virgin Australia also currently flys return daily jet services from Sydney with a mix of Embraer E-190 and Boeing B737 aircraft.

Virgin Australia Embraer E-190 VH-ZPH

In 2006, the airport was the fastest growing in Queensland with passenger numbers almost doubling. Currently, plans are underway to further upgrade the airport to handle more commercial and fly-in fly-out (FIFO) flights from Brisbane, Sydney, and possibly Melbourne. These plans involve the extension of the terminal to twice its current size, as well as a new cross runway (smaller than the main runway) to be used for general aviation purposes.

Seair Pacific Cessna 208 Caravan VH-VCW operates transfers to Lady Elliot Island and FIFO charters from Hervey Bay (File photo)

Seabird Aviation Australia Pty Ltd is a light aircraft manufacturer based at Hervey Bay Airport and is best known for designing, developing and certifying the SB7L-360 Seeker-2 multi-role utility aircraft manufactured for commercial or private use.

Seabird Aviation SB7L-360A VH-SZF at Hervey Bay Airport

Seabird Aviation SB7L-360A VH-SZF at Hervey Bay Airport

The official Seabird Aviation Australia Pty Ltd website can be located at:  http://www.seabirdaviation.com.au/ .


Also operating out of the Airport is Cessna 182 VH-DBP which is noted regularly flying and dropping thrill-seeking parachutists out over Hervey Bay.


Other aircraft spotted by Brendan during his visit to Hervey Bay Airport included Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Hawker Beechcraft B200 King Air VH-FDA along with Toowoomba-based Hawker Beechcraft G58 Baron N581SR.



Some great photos from what looks like a lovely little regional airport in the far South of the Central Queensland region (ha ha!).  My sincere thanks to Brendan for sending through these great photos, and for his continuing support of the CQ Plane Spotting Blog!

Photos taken by Brendan Berry  ©

1 comment:

  1. My local field.

    It's a funny place as it can be as quiet as a mouse for hours on end, then as soon as you enter the circuit, you can land due to commercial traffic all coming in at once. :)

    ReplyDelete