One of Canberra’s most popular attractions is the biennial (two yearly) Open Day at the Canberra International Airport. The event takes place in late March or early April with the next one being in 2018.
While it is certainly worth a look if you are in town I would not rate it as a must see (though given the crowds the rest of Canberra clearly does), especially if you don’t make it early and end up getting caught in the kilometres long queue to get into the airport grounds. The airport remains fully operational on the day so be warned and plan accordingly, if you have a flight out while the Open Day is in progress.
To call it the Airport Open Day, as they do, is actually a bit of a misnomer as it does not include the terminal building but rather takes place on a taxi runway about half way along the main runway.
On show when I visited in 2016 were about a dozen planes of all shapes and sizes – some old, some new but all in flying order – that’s how they get them here. While access to the Open Day is free, as is car-parking, if you want to board the older planes which are maintained by various heritage societies and aviation clubs you have to pay an entrance fee. As this amounts to around $5 per plane this can mount up if you board every plane. That said, queues were long for entry to some of the planes.
In addition to the planes there was about a dozen or so stalls – Royal Flying Doctor Service, Royal Air Australian Force (RAAF)/ Army Recruitment, gliding and pilot training and the like. Also here were a few street entertainers, a handful of bouncy castles and other kids amusements and a selection of stalls selling food and drinks. You also get nice close up views of commercial planes landing on the adjacent runway – just don’t expect Heathrow frequency. Only a couple of QANTAS planes landed in the hour and a half I was there.
While I didn’t hang around for them, as I have seen them before, the RAAF Roulettes, Australia’s Red Arrows or Blue Angels, put on a show.
All in all a pleasant way to spend a couple hours maximum and especially suited to families. Do take my advice and get there by 9am (half an hour before the planes can be accessed) to avoid later traffic snarl-ups. We arrived at 9am and stalls and amusements etc were open then – so things to do while you wait on access to the tarmac and the planes.
Opening times
Access to planes 9.30am – 1.30pm on one day in late March or early April every second year!
Entry Fee
Free though you will have to pay to board the older planes ($5 each in 2016).
Address: Canberra International Airport, Canberra
Directions: Follow signs when you get to the Airport
For my next CANBERRA – INNER NORTH review click HERE.
For other Canberra reviews click HERE.
The Rambling Wombat 
Oh Mel loves to gawk at the planes!
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