Gove Airport

The Gove Airport is located on the site of the former RAAF Airfield Gove. This World War II airbase was built in 1943 and named for Pilot Officer William Gove who was killed in action near Maningrida. During the war, the airfield was used by No. 83 Squadron RAAF flying CAC Boomerangs and No. 13 Squadron RAAF flying Lockheed Venturas, with No. 42 Squadron RAAF operating PBY Catalina flying boats out of nearby Drimmie Head. At the height of operations, over 5000 servicemen were stationed at the base.

The Township is serviced by a twice daily Boeing 717 QANTASLink service and 10 AirNorth sevices a week along with many Charter flights to several different communities throughout East Arnhem Land including Elcho Eylandt.

In March 2005, Alcan officially opened the new $8 million Gove Airport, bringing high quality transport services to remote Arnhem Land.

Shaped like an aircraft, the unique architecturally-designed terminal offers city-standard airport facilities to the estimated 100,000 passengers who currently travel to and from Nhulunbuy each year.

The new terminal building offers passengers a spacious, air-conditioned facility with indoor baggage carousels. Rio Tinto Alcan Gove has rebuilt 1.15 kms of runway and extended it by 150 metres to allow the larger Boeing 737-400 series aircraft to fly safely into Gove. The number of passengers flying in and out of Gove increasedsignificantly during the recent “G3 Project”. 

In line with larger city airports, the new Gove airport provides dedicated security-restricted areas for commercial aircraft and a separate dedicated area for smaller general aviation craft.

Airport drop off-zones have been incorporated into the new design, along with taxi and bus collection areas, car space for up to 78 vehicles and rental car parking area.

Aircraft Weight Landing Fee:                                     $10.00 per tonne

The Gove airport is 100% owned by Rio Tinto Alcan Gove Pty. Ltd. and operated and maintained by Nhulunbuy Corporation Ltd.