New Antarctica Airport

Filed in archive Aviation News on February 24, 2008

Headed to Antarctica? Well, travel to the ice continent just got easier. Thanks to Australia, passengers to Antarctica can now land on a new runway made of ice and snow. Named after Australian polar explorer and pilot, Sir George Hubert Wilkins, the runway is 2.5 miles long and 2,300 feet thick.

Work on the runway, which cost AUD $46.3 million (U.S. $42.2 million), began in 2005 and required three summers to complete. Although construction occurred during the warmest part of the year, workers still experienced temperatures as low as minus 32 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 115 miles per hour, the strength of a Class 3 hurricane.

In January, the Governor-General of Australia, Michael Jeffery, described the Wilkins Runway as a remarkable feat of ice engineering. "It is fitting that it is named after Sir George Hubert Wilkins, one of the great pioneers of polar exploration and aviation. He encountered many of the same perils that face our Antarctic aviators today - ferocious wind, ice and snow blizzards and absolute isolation," Jeffrey said.

Runway leveled using lasers
The Wilkins Runway was cut from glacial ice and leveled using laser technology. "The runway here is a lot smoother than a lot of runways at international airports around the world," said pilot Garry Studd.

White snow 'pavement' was bonded to the glacial blue ice to deflect the sun's rays. Blue ice absorbs heat from the sun and warms up, causing melts and pitted surfaces and creating a potentially unsafe surface for airplanes. Without the snow 'pavement', aircraft could slide across the runway during crosswind takeoffs and landings.

Precision approach path indicators installed on the side of the runway provide a visual landing aid to help pilots ensure that their approach angle is correct.

The ambitious project required tracked vehicles, compactors, ploughs, and snow-throwers. Equipment was shipped from Australia by boat, a five-week journey.