Daly Waters Airport (DYW)

Daly Waters Airport (YDLW) operates as a historically significant aviation facility in Australia's Northern Territory, positioned at the legendary Daly Waters township 265 kilometers south of Katherine and 3 kilometers off the Stuart Highway, distinguished as Australia's first international airfield established in 1934 for early international aviation routes to London via Darwin. The airport complex houses the Northern Territory's oldest hangar, transported and erected by the Sidney Williams Company in 1930, alongside the original Qantas hangar and associated buildings constructed between 1940-1960, now serving as heritage displays showcasing photographs and equipment from the pioneering aviation era. Currently classified as an Authorized Landing Area by Airservices Australia rather than a commercial airport, the facility maintains basic aviation infrastructure supporting private aircraft operations, charter flights, and emergency services for this remote outback location where the historic Daly Waters Pub provides access keys to aviation enthusiasts and heritage visitors. The restored complex underwent renovation in 1992 and operates as a registered heritage attraction, preserving the original terminal structures, oil store facilities, and operational buildings that once supported commercial airlines operating domestic routes to Western Australia and international carriers flying to Southeast Asia. The airport serves as both a functional landing facility for general aviation and a monument to Australia's aviation heritage, representing the crucial role this remote Northern Territory location played in establishing international air routes during the 1920s-1930s and wartime operations through 1965 when commercial traffic ceased. While modern commercial aviation has bypassed Daly Waters, the facility continues to provide essential aviation access to travelers exploring Australia's outback heritage, emergency services, and private pilots navigating the vast distances between major population centers in the Northern Territory's challenging interior landscape.