Olympic Dam Airport

Olympic Dam Airport (IATA: OLP^[4], ICAO: YOLD) is an airport that serves the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia. There have been planned expansions for the airport starting in 2006 and ongoing in 2011. Alliance Airlines operate a public transport service between Olympic Dam and Adelaide.

Olympic Dam Airport
IATA: OLP ICAO: YOLD
Summary
Airport type	Private
Operator	BHP, Olympic Dam Operations
Serves	Olympic Dam mine
Elevation AMSL	344 ft / 105 m
Coordinates	30°29′06″S 136°52′36″E
Map
YOLD Location in South Australia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 07/25 1,860 6,102 Asphalt
Statistics (2023/24[1])
Passengers 103,589 Aircraft movements (2014-15) 2,234
Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart,[2] passenger and aircraft movements from the Department of Infrastructure and Transport[3]

General information

The airport is located at Olympic Dam, South Australia with the terminal located at 30°29′02.0322″S 136°53′02.7954″E with the local time zone (Australian Central Standard Time (ACST)) of +9:30 hours from UTC.^[4] The airport's codes are OLP for FlightStats and IATA, YOLD for ICAO and it does not have an FFA code.^[4] Several car rental companies operate from the airport.^[5]

In 2007, there was a near mid-air collision between an Alliance Airlines plane and a charter flight.^[6] Flooding in the region in 2010 did not affect the airport.^[7]

2011 expansion proposal

Relocation discussions were underway in 2006, with a discussion about either expanding the Olympic Dam airport or building a new one close to Andamooka. The area was set to have 5,000 contractors brought in by BHP.^[8] It was planned that the airport would be relocated should the Olympic Dam mine expand to an open-cut configuration.^[9] Expansion plans outlined in 2011 included improving the airport to accommodate jets and passenger service.^[10] 2011 plans for the airport included making the runway an all-weather one.^[11] The planned location was between Roxby Downs and Andamooka.^[11] In March 2020, NRW Holdings was awarded a contract to upgrade the airport.^[12] By August 2021, a new, larger runway had been built, and the older one closed and partially demolished.^[13]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Alliance Airlines	Charter: Adelaide[14]

Statistics

Olympic Dam Airport was ranked 46th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2023–2024.^[1]

Annual passenger traffic at OLP airport. See Wikidata query.

Annual passenger and aircraft statistics for Olympic Dam^[3]

Year[15]	Revenue passengers	Aircraft movements
2001-02	19,289	1,304
2002-03	24,973	1,411
2003-04	25,715	1,727
2004-05	27,262	1,723
2005-06	37,112	1,924
2006-07	57,639	2,593
2007-08	74,099	2,278
2008-09	76,118	2,254
2009-10	60,168	1,809
2010-11	72,215	1,875
2011-12	90,438	2,462
2012-13	83,583	2,563
2013-14	76,103	2,233
2014-15	74,346	2,234