Spotting at Ballina Airport

Being on annual leave, I decided I would drive the 175 kilometer (109 Miles) to Ballina Airport to do some plane spotting. The drive is normally just a fraction over 2 hours, but due to peak hour traffic and road works, it took me 2 hours 56 minutes. (Then I had to add an hour due to daylight saving.)

I arrived at 11am and left at 2.30pm (NSW time) 

The drove home was much quicker and easier, 1 hour 58 mins.

Ballina Byron Gateway Airport (BNK / YBNA) is a small regional airport located at Ballina, New South Wales. It is owned and operated by Ballina Shire Council. It serves Ballina and the nearby famous town of Byron Bay, a 20-minute drive north. The airport is 5 km (3 miles) from the Ballina town centre. It has one Asphalt runway, 06/24, which is 1,900 mts long (6,234 Feet) and is 2 mts AMSL. This airport does not have a control tower, so pilots are required to communicate via a Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF) 124.2 to safely co-ordinate arrivals and departures.

Ballina Airport is served by four airlines, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Air Pelican. Both Qantas and Virgin run out of Sydney, Jetstar runs out of Sydney and Melbourne, and Air Pelican runs out of Newcastle.

EDWARDS AVIATION CESSNA 650 CITATION VH-LYM (MSN 650-7095)

PIPER PA-24-260 VH-SMJ (MSN 24-4816)

ROBINSON R22 BETA VH-VGK (MSN 2973)

BEECH 58 BARON VH-YDC (MSN TH-755)

BEECH 35-DEBONAIR VH-CPL (MSN CD-441)

CESSNA 172N SKYHAWK VH-JGY (MSN 172-68664)

PACIFIC CT/4A AIRTRAINER VH-DMI (MSN 037)

DIAMOND DA40NG VH-FZI (MSN 40.NC185)

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA BOEING 737-8FE VH-VUS (MSN 36607)

VA 1139 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY

CESSNA 172S SKYHAWK SP VH-EOQ (MSN 17210008)

JETSTAR AIRBUS A320-232 VH-YXQ (MSN 5618)

JQ458 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY

PILATUS PC-12NG VH-JKU 

CESSNA 172S SKYHAWK SP VH-XBM (MSN 172S-10013)

JABIRU J-170 24-5066

JABIRU J-160 24-4753

QANTASLINK DASH 8 Q400 VH-LQF (MSN 4375)

QF2062 ARRIVING FROM SYDNEY