The 'Land Down Under' offers a flurry of aviation activity. Not only is Australia a hotbed for passenger travel with the likes of Qantas and other Aussie carriers, but its cargo sector is quite also active with major airlines such as Polar Air, UPS, and FedEx. In fact, the country's airports support a massive cargo infrastructure moving all kinds of goods domestically and abroad. So, it's definitely worthwhile looking at the major cargo centers and air routes that connect them.

Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (YSSSY)

Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport has been rated in the top five worldwide for airports handling 40–50 million passengers annually and voted the 20th best airport in the world at the Skytrax World Airport Awards. When it comes to cargo, this airport is Australia’s heavy hitter.

Kingsford Smith is a major hub for freight transport to and from Australia handling approximately 45% of the national cargo traffic. It features extensive freight facilities including seven dedicated cargo terminals operated by several handlers. In 2019, Sydney Airport handled 521,014 tons of international air freight and 23,260 tons of international airmail.

YSSY has the distinction of being the largest import/export airport in Australia and facilitates most imports by value at an Australian airport. Some major cargo airlines operating out of Sydney Kingsford Smith, include Cathay Pacific Cargo, DHL Aviation, Emirates SkyCargo, FedEx Express, Garuda Cargo, Kalitta Air, Polar Air Cargo, Qantas Freight, Singapore Airlines Cargo, and UPS Airlines.

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Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport is Australia’s leading air cargo center. Photo: Andrew Harvey via Wikimedia Commons
 

Perth (YPPH)

Perth offers a gateway for cargo traffic into the state of Western Australia. The airport is the fourth busiest in Australia in terms of passenger traffic and also offers the largest total air cargo export by value and export of gold by value. Perth had a total volume of approximately 47.7 thousand metric tons of air freight with the total volume of freight exported around 66 thousand metric tons.

Several major cargo airlines operate into Perth. These include Singapore Airlines Cargo, Emirates SkyCargo, Korean Air Cargo, and Atlas Air. Some notable routes are:

  • Emirates SkyCargo - Singapore
  • Qantas Freight - Melbourne
  • Qatar Airways Cargo - Doha
  • Singapore Airlines Cargo - Singapore
  • Toll Priority - Brisbane, Melbourne
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Antonov Airlines had operated the Antonov An-225 Mriya into Perth on several occasions. Photo: Bahnfrend via Wikimedia Commons
 

Melbourne (YMML)

Melbourne Airport is the main international airport serving the Melbourne metropolitan area. Avalon is the other international airfield. In terms of passenger traffic, the Melbourne–Sydney air route is the third most-traveled passenger air route in the world. For cargo, YMML handles more than 30% of Australia's international air freight market and is rated Australia’s second-largest importer by value.

There are several international freight airlines operating out of Melbourne, including Polar Air, Cathay Pacific, and Singapore Airlines. Cargo terminal operators include Qantas, Menzies, Dnata, DHL, and the Australia Post Gateway facility. The Southern Freighter Apron has five dedicated freighter parking positions which handle 21 dedicated freighter operations a week.

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Atlas Air operates Boeing 747-400Fs on its Melbourne – Sydney route. Photo: Bidgee via Wikimedia Commons

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Brisbane (YBBN)

Brisbane is a popular international and domestic passenger destination and offers the third-highest number of domestic connections in Australia following Sydney and Melbourne. In the cargo sector, it also ranks as the third-largest contributor to Australia’s air freight network.

Several airlines operate scheduled cargo routes from Brisbane’s freight terminal. These include:

  • DHL Aviation - Mackay, Rockhampton, Sydney
  • Nauru Airlines - Honiara, Nauru
  • Qantas Freight - Cairns, Melbourne, Townsville
  • Toll Aviation - Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Bankstown, Mackay, Rockhampton, Thangool, Townsville
  • Toll Priority - Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
  • Virgin Australia Cargo - Cairns, Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville

In addition to Brisbane serving as a base for Qantas Freight, it also houses Qantas' A330 and B737 heavy maintenance facilities.

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Long runways at Brisbane’s airport allow heavy cargo jets to transport vital air freight into Australia’s Gold Coast. Photo: J Brew via Wikimedia Commons
 

Other airports of significance

Several other Australian airports greatly contribute to the country's vast air cargo network. For example, Toowoomba Wellcamp Airport offers weekly services that connect the region’s agricultural market to Asia while Darwin has a dedicated domestic air freight service for military and mining equipment. Alice Springs is another airport experiencing a substantial amount of military freighter operations, but in this case, it’s mostly from the United States armed forces.

Live seafood, tropical fruits, and other local produce are flown out from Cairns meanwhile, Canberra is a base for fresh food transport which saw its first shipment to Singapore in 2017. Hobart Airport commenced plans to develop a new freight handling facility while Adelaide’s airport regularly welcomes Antonov 124-100s transporting cargo.

Australia has a vast air freight network consisting of these key airports which allow cargo airlines to transport much-needed food, medicine, and materials down under and beyond.