Adelaide Airport is an international, domestic and general aviation airport serving the metropolitan area of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Located approximately 6 km (4 mi) west of the central business district, the airport served more than 9.1 million passengers in FY26, being Australia’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger movements. It has been operated privately by Adelaide Airport Limited under a long-term lease from the federal government since 29 May 1998.
First established in 1955, Adelaide Airport operates flights to over 30 destinations within Australia, Oceania, Asia, and North America. The airport also serves as a hub for Virgin Australia, a focus city for Qantas, and as an operating base for various airlines, including low-cost airline Jetstar. Adelaide Airport handles the fourth-largest number of domestic connections following Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne airports. Since 2005, flights have been operated through a combined domestic and international terminal, having replaced the original separate terminals. Adelaide Airport is capable of handling large aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747, the latter of which was a regular at the airport in previous years.
The facility handles an average of over 250 flights daily, and spans a total area of 785 hectares (1,940 acres) of airport property.
History
An early Adelaide airport was built in 1921, allowing a mail service between Adelaide and Sydney. The aerodrome was built on of land in Albert Park, now part of the neighbouring suburb of Hendon, which took over from the Northfield Aerodrome. The demand on aviation soon grew substantially, with Parafield Airport being developed in 1927 to enable the first passenger airline services from Adelaide. With a further growth in aviation, a new site for the current Adelaide Airport was selected in the suburb of West Beach in January 1946, which was then split to form the dedicated Adelaide Airport suburb in 1991. An alternative airport site was also considered in Port Adelaide, which included a seaplane facility, but was considered inferior and too far from the central business district at roughly away.
Construction in the chosen site took place in 1947 and flights commenced in 1954, with Parafield Airport being turned into a private and military aviation facility, now operating as a public training airport. With regular transport operations commencing on 16 February 1955, an annexe to one of the large hangars at the airport served as the first passenger terminal, until the Federal Government provided funds for the construction of a temporary building.
In 1982, a contract was awarded to Baulderstone to prepare the airport for wide bodied aircraft service, jets in particular being the Airbus A300 and Boeing 767 aircraft which would open the door to long-haul services.$8m airport contract Canberra Times 18 May 1982 page 9
In May 1998, long-term leases of Adelaide Airport and Parafield Airport were sold by Federal Airports Corporation to Adelaide Airport Limited, a consortium of Manchester Airport, Serco, UniSuper and Macquarie Bank.New airport leases announced Australian Aviation issue 139 May 1998 page 20 As at December 2023, the shareholders of Adelaide Airport Limited were UniSuper (51%), Hostplus (15%), IFM Investors (15%), Igneo Infrastructure Partners (15%) and Perron Group (4%).Ownership Adelaide Airport
In July 1998, the runway was extended by 570 metres to 3.1 kilometres.Adelaide runway extension opened Australian Aviation issue 143 September 1998 page 16 Prior to the 2005 terminal redevelopment,New Adelaide terminal opened Australian Aviation issue 223 December 2005 page 16 the original separate terminals had only two aircraft bays and a single jetbridge with limited space for passengers, check-in desks were also small and waiting space was limited. A new control tower was also built west of the terminal, with the old control tower maintained for additional operations.
In October 2006, the new terminal was named the Capital City Airport of the Year at the Australian Aviation Industry Awards in Cairns. In March 2007, Adelaide Airport was rated the world's second-best airport in the 5–15 million passengers category at the Airports Council International 2006 awards.
Following the successful terminal redevelopment, plans were announced for another expansion of the terminal in July 2007, including the addition of more aerobridges as well as demolition of the old international terminal building. However, the demolition was delayed until November 2016 and was finally concluded in April 2018, this would make way for expanded landside facilities as well as further future expansions of the main terminal.
On 5 August 2008 Tigerair Australia confirmed that Adelaide Airport would become the airline's second hub which would base two of the airline's Airbus A320s by early 2009, this was followed by a third A320 in early 2010. In 2011, Tigerair announced it would shut down its operations from Adelaide and Avalon following the airlines 2011 suspension and reduction in flights.
In 2011, Adelaide Airport encountered major problems during the eruption of Puyehue volcano in Chile, with the ash cloud caused by the volcano resulting in flight cancellations nationwide, this left over 40,000 passengers stranded in Adelaide.
On 11 October 2022, it was discovered that at around 10am local time, security screening equipment had failed half an hour earlier, leading to the evacuation of the terminal and re-screening of approximately 2,000 passengers.
On 2 September 2025, Jetstar based another Airbus A320ceo at Adelaide Airport to support an increase in services, boosting the total number of aircraft based at the airport to six.
International history
International services became regular after the November 1982 completion of an international terminal, with a Qantas Boeing 747-200B making the first international arrival from London via Singapore.Adelaide's new air terminal opens Engineers Australia 12 November 1982 page 7 Singapore Airlines and British Airways were the first foreign airlines to offer scheduled services at Adelaide Airport, also directly connecting the airport to Singapore and London respectively.
Alongside Singapore, Qantas had also previously operated non-stop services from Adelaide to Tokyo and Auckland in previous decades, with the latter now resuming as a seasonal service. A further number of international airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, and Air New Zealand had also commenced services to Adelaide in the following years, adding further connectivity to Asia as well as to the Pacific.
On 5 June 2009, Pacific Blue, since consolidated into Virgin Australia, launched services from Adelaide to Nadi, but were eventually discontinued. Fiji Airways reconnected Adelaide and Nadi in June 2017 with a Boeing 737-800 operated service introduced.
On 31 October 2013, budget carrier AirAsia X began flights between Adelaide and Kuala Lumpur with Airbus A330-300s. The service was withdrawn in January 2015, though Indonesia AirAsia, another subsidiary of AirAsia, commenced services between Adelaide and Denpasar in June 2025. On 16 December 2013, Jetstar commenced services from Adelaide to Auckland using the Airbus A320-200s, similar to the original demise of the route from Qantas in July 2007, the route was later suspended in 2014.
In the financial year ending 30 June 2018, it was reported that Adelaide Airport had handled over one million international passengers, marking a milestone. Factors that contributed to this strong increase included the introduction of Air New Zealand's Boeing 787-9 aircraft on the Adelaide to Auckland route in October 2017, as well as flight frequency increases from airlines such as China Southern Airlines and Qatar Airways.
During January 2018, Emirates CEO Tim Clark stated the airlines' intention to shift from the Boeing 777 to the Airbus A380 aircraft on their Dubai to Adelaide service.
On 18 December 2018, Singapore Airlines upgraded its Singapore to Adelaide service from the Airbus A330-300 to the higher-capacity Airbus A350-900, being the inaugural destination with the new aircraft. Fiji Airways also upgraded to the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft on the Nadi to Adelaide route, and Singapore Airlines upgraded to the larger Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft by 2023.
In the second quarter of the 2019 financial year a 7% increase in international travel was recorded, in comparison with the same period last year. This was also partially fuelled by the late 2018 and early 2019 service increases from airlines such as China Southern Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines, accommodating the increase in demand. Adelaide Airport also continues to experience the greatest international growth out of any Australian airport.
In December 2021, Qantas launched a temporary non-stop service from Adelaide to New Delhi, due to a shortage of Boeing 787 aircraft at the time. This was the first time Qantas had flown a non-stop international flight from Adelaide since the discontinuation of their Singapore to Adelaide route in 2013. Multiple repatriation flights to the city took place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, these flights include Air India which flew one of its Boeing 787s from New Delhi, as well as Lion Air whom also flew from other Indian cities via Jakarta.
In October 2023, Adelaide Airport released its 2050 Network Vision, in which the airport hopes to have direct flight connection to 39 global cities, with some notable destinations including Los Angeles and Johannesburg, as well as the return of London among others. In order to achieve this, the airport is planning a significant expansion of its current facilities to cater for more international flights.
In October 2024, Emirates resumed its non-stop route between Dubai and Adelaide, coming shortly after China Southern Airlines' announcement for the resumption of their non-stop route between Guangzhou and Adelaide. Both routes were initially launched in 2012 and 2016 respectively, but were temporarily ceased in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Carriers such as Batik Air and VietJet Air had also previously terminated or suspended flights to Adelaide.
In December 2025, United Airlines commenced a non-stop route between Adelaide and San Francisco, establishing the first direct flight between South Australia and North America. The route will also become United's third longest flight and place within the top 30 longest flights globally, with a distance of .
In May 2025, Qantas announced the resumption of their non-stop Auckland flights, marking the return of international flights to Adelaide from the carrier after a 12-year hiatus. Additionally, Cathay Pacific also reported the resumption of their popular Hong Kong service, which had originally been discontinued in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following month on 3 June 2025, Air New Zealand announced a new route to Christchurch, connecting South Australia to the South Island of New Zealand for the first time.
On 10 September 2025, it was reported that Malaysia Airlines would switch from the Airbus A330-300 aircraft to the brand-new A330-900 aircraft on their Kuala Lumpur to Adelaide route, introducing the Airbus A330neo variant for scheduled services to the city.
On 6 November 2025, China Eastern Airlines announced a new non-stop route connecting Adelaide to Shanghai, the busiest airport serving China as well as the third largest city globally. Operated with Airbus A350-900 aircraft and having began 20 June 2026, the route became Adelaide Airport's third Chinese destination.