TOURISM HAS LONG BEEN THE FOUNDATION OF THE FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND ECONOMY. IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE HOW WE’D SURVIVE WITHOUT THE REVENUE AND JOBS IT CREATES.
These days most of our visitors arrive by air. Our tourism industry owes its existence to aeroplanes and the people who pioneered aviation in FNQ. Their story is eloquently told in a recent addition to the Cairns Airport domestic terminal – the Aviation Pioneers display.
It looks back to the days when the airport site was a mangrove swamp, and its earliest use as a landing ground. It tells the stories of the people, the companies and the aircraft that made safe air travel in FNQ possible.
CLICK ON THE AUDIO PLAYER TO HEAR KEVIN BROWN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF NORTH QUEENSLAND AIRPORTS TALK ABOUT THE PIONEERS DISPLAY.
QANTAS WAITING ROOM CAIRNS AIRPORT 1945
One of FNQ’s pioneering aviation companies was Bush Pilots Airways, founded by the late Sir Robert Norman in 1951. Bushies grew from a small operation to be a significant airline that developed new approaches to tourism in the region.
Bushies closed down in 1987, but its former staff are still in regular contact a quarter of a century later. They’re gathering in Cairns tomorrow for a re-union at which tall tales and true will be told.
CLICK ON THE AUDIO PLAYER TO HEAR EX-BUSHIES PILOT LYLE COOKE TALK ABOUT HIS TIME FLYING WITH BPA.
FORMER BUSHIES LYLE COOK & LIONEL DYER AT THE AVIATION PIONEERS DISPLAY CAIRNS AIRPORT DOMESTIC TERMINAL
CLICK ON THE AUDIO PLAYER TO HEAR FORMER BPA JACK OF ALL TRADES LIONEL DYER TALK ABOUT THE AIRLINE AND THE RE-UNION.
THE F-27 FOKKER FRIENDSHIP IN BPA COLOURS CAIRNS AIRPORT
RON ENTSCH & BUSHIES CREW WITH A DC-3 CAIRNS 1970s
CAIRNS AIRPORT CONTROL TOWER 1957
The Mojowire 