Mount Gambier Airport

Mount Gambier Airport is an airport in the Limestone Coast, South Australia.It is located on the Riddoch Highway in Wandilo about 5NM north of Mount Gambier. It is the only commercial airport servicing the Limestone Coast region of South Australia. Currently Regional Express Airlines is the only airline servicing the airport, with multiple daily flights to Adelaide and Melbourne with Saab 340 turboprop aircraft.HistoryThe original Mount Gambier aerodrome was established when Mr H.S. (Stan) May and Mr S.C. Davis purchased land directly opposite the present airport on the Riddoch Highway. An aerodrome was established and basic infrastructure provided with the aerodrome officially opened on 21 May 1930. Scheduled airline services to Adelaide and Melbourne began the same year. The aerodrome owners then purchased 82 hectares of land that was part of 'Croyle Estate' and then another 66 hectares of the same property on 2 June 1936. This site is where the airport is today. A licence was granted by the then-Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of Defence on 1 July 1936 and the new airport began hosting regular public transport flights.In July 1939 the Federal Government purchased the aerodrome from its civilian owners and commenced the construction of a Royal Australian Air Force base which was to house the No. 2 Air Observers School (2AOS). It was officially formed on 6 February 1941 and the first intake of trainees began on 6 March 1941.