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Cairns Airport will close to all traffic as Tropical Cyclone Jasper approaches the Far North Queensland coast.
The last scheduled flight, Virgin Australia flight VA1298 to Melbourne, is scheduled for 7:45pm on Tuesday, after which the airport will shut down ahead of Jasper’s anticipated landfall on Wednesday. CEO Richard Baker has warned that the airport will not be available until at least Thursday.
“The airport will be closed on Wednesday, so do not come to the airport – the terminals will be shut. The runway itself will be available for emergency services, but there are no scheduled flights,” he said.
“We’re progressively securing loose items. We have significant levee wall and pumps to prevent flooding, got sandbags, so we’re well-organised.
“We would advise any travellers to make sure that they contact their individual airlines, and the airlines will work with them, because airlines are making individual decisions around their flights and their final departures. We are expecting flights to recommence on Thursday morning.”
Baker added that planes leaving Cairns on Tuesday have been full.
“If you’re not on one of those flights and you have not left Cairns on Tuesday evening, do not come to the airport because the airport terminals will physically be barricaded with sandbags and there’ll be no one here.
“We’re not an evacuation shelter, so if you have not left on Tuesday by aeroplane, do not intend to leave here by until Thursday at the earliest.”
Jasper is expected to hit the coast between Cape Flattery and Lucinda as a category 2 storm on Wednesday morning.
