Tower Information, Views and History Location - Adelaide Airport, Adelaide, South Australia Postal Address - GPO Box 2270, Adelaide, SA 5001 Height - 21m Date Constructed - 1981

 

Around noon on the 16th December 1954, Department of Civil Aviation Douglas DC3, VH-CAO, made the first landing at the new Adelaide Airport, located in the suburb of West Beach, to the south west of the central business district. West Beach eventuated in response to the airline’s requests to provide a more suitable site to Parafield Airport, which was prone to soft wet surfaces during certain times of the year, resulting in airline services often having to divert to Gawler, north of Edinburgh.

The original Control Tower, located on top of the domestic terminal building, was superseded in 1981 by the current structure, which sits at the confluence of the two runways, adjacent to the fire station, in the middle of the airfield.

Courtesy of its 21m elevation, the Tower Cab enjoys spectacular 360-degree panoramic views. To the east lie the Mount Lofty Ranges peaking at 2,375ft, while to the west, container and passenger ships can be seen traversing the Gulf of St Vincent on their way to and from Port Adelaide and Outer Harbour.

Other notable landmarks visible from the Tower include the historic Adelaide Oval in North Adelaide; Football Park, home to the “Adelaide Crows” and “Port Power”, to the north west; the new Holdfast Shores development at Glenelg on the coast just to the south of the airfield’s main runway, and Mitsubishi’s car plant at Tonsley Park and the Flinders Medical Centre and University to the south-east.

Facing east, the Tower console overlooks the CBD located 7kms from the airfield, while to the southeast, Adelaide’s main oil refinery at Port Stanvac is clearly visible on a good day.

Adelaide has two runways, which in addition to facilitating domestic and international airlines also service a preponderance of third level and commuter operators catering for South Australia’s satellite communities. In addition, the Royal Flying Doctor Service maintains its South Australian base at the airfield.

The average daily movements total 300. Most of the traffic is in the Medium and Light weight categories. Night operations are restricted between the hours of 2300 and 0600 (local time) by the "Adelaide Airport Curfew 2000" Act of Parliament.

Adelaide Tower operates 24 hours per day.

Facilities

Adelaide Airport runways are 23/05 (3100M) and 12/30 (1652M). A single ILS is installed on Runway 23. All other runways are served by non-precision approaches using VOR, DME or GPS.