Katoomba Airfield is an Australian airfield located in the town of Medlow Bath, New South Wales. The airport is by road from the Central Business District of the nearby city of Katoomba. It is a country airfield that has seen minimal use. The airfield is currently closed to airplanes and helicopters. The site remains available for use by emergency services. The airport is Crown Land and is operated by FlyBlue Management Pty Ltd, taking over the license of the site in February 2018 following the death of long-time lessee Rod Hay who was killed in a single engine plane crash in nearby scrub at the airfield.
History
Katoomba airfield has a long history dating back to the Royal Australian Army in 1925 when a survey of the surrounding Blue Mountains region identified land suitable for an airport site. In 1959 the Blue Mountains National Park was formally gazetted meaning future development of the now protected site would require special government approval. In the mid 1960s, land was excised for the airfield with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service agreeing to exclude the airfield from land to be added to the national park at that time provided that the land was added to the National Park upon the expiry of the lease in 1988. The then Lands Department agreed to this process. This led the way for the site to be developed and officially opened in 1969 by Harold Coates MP and Ern Lesslie From its opening in 1969 the airfield provided an air "Safety Ramp" for general aviation, being the only fixed aircraft landing area between Sydney and Central West NSW. In 2008 the commercial lease expired and the Government of NSW proposed the sale of airfield land, however Blue Mountains City Council were opposed to the sale and reaffirmed its position that the land should be part of Blue Mountains National Park. An agreement was eventually reached and the land was then occupied on monthly arrangement until 2017. Minimal commercial activities occurred in this time and such the airfield began to fall into disrepair. In 2016 Katoomba Airfield's licensee, flying instructor Rod Hay, was killed in a single engine plane crash in nearby scrub at the airfield. In September 2017 following this accident, the Department of Primary Industry called for an Expression of Interest from parties interested to license the site. Blackbird Helicopters was the granted the licence from February 1, 2018. web|url=https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5810825/katoomba-airfield-licensees-meet-with-medlow-bathers/|title=Katoomba airfield licensees meet with Medlow Bathers|last=Lewis|first=B. C.|date=2018-12-14|website=Blue Mountains Gazette|language=en|access-date=2019-08-28
Operations
Katoomba currently does not have any companies based at the airfield, however if required for emergency services its use to support efforts such as a staging area for firefighting support cannot refused.
