Flinders Island Airport
Airport in Whitemark, Flinders Island, Tasmania, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flinders Island Airport (IATA: FLS, ICAO: YFLI) is a small regional airport located 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) northwest of Whitemark on Flinders Island off the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia. The airport is owned and operated by the Flinders Council. The airport site has a total area of approximately 134 hectares.[2]
Flinders Island Airport | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Flinders Council | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Flinders Island | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Whitemark, Tasmania | ||||||||||||||
| Opened | 16 February 1935 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 34 ft (10 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 40°05′29″S 147°59′34″E | ||||||||||||||
| Website | flinders.tas.gov.au/flinders-island-airport | ||||||||||||||
| Maps | |||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||
  YFLI Location in Tasmania | |||||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Flinders Island Airport | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Statistics (2024–25) | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[1] | |||||||||||||||
History
The first aerodrome on Flinders Island began operating in March 1932, as a landing strip on the property of A. G. Woodside's property, five kilometres from Whitemark. Flinders Island Municipal Council had sought to establish an aerodrome for mail planes and commercial flights after Launceston Airport was established in 1930 and commercial flights commenced to Melbourne's Essendon Airport. In 1934, the aerodrome was moved to a new site next to St Pats River, with the first plane ("Miss Launceston" operated by Holyman's Airways) landing there on 18 December 1934, and the airport officially opening on 16 February 1935.[3]
In January 2025, Flinders Council received a AUD$2.68 million grant from the Australian government to begin modernisation upgrades, and sought an additional $300,000 from the Tasmanian government to complete stage one works including upgrading its electrical system and constructing a new operations building. Stage two works will involve resurfacing and reconstructing the runway, at an estimated cost of $23 million.[4]
Traffic and statistics
The following table lists passenger statistics for Flinders Island Airport.[5]
| Year | Passenger movements |
|---|---|
| 2020–21 | 22,183 |
| 2021–22 | 22,855 |
| 2022–23 | 22,632 |
| 2023–24 | 21,131 |
| 2024–25 | 19,429 |
