Airport type Military/Public 11/29 3,049 Elevation 98 m | Elevation AMSL 300 ft / 91 m 3,049 10,003 | |
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Operator DoD / Shire of Derby/West Kimberley Location Derby, Western Australia Address Willare WA 6728, Australia Similar Derby Airport, Derby Bus Service, Tourist Information, Desert Rose Bed & Breakfast, The Windmill Cafe | ||
RAAF Base Curtin (IATA: DCN, ICAO: YCIN) is a joint use Royal Australian Air Force base and civil airport located 19 nautical miles (35 km; 22 mi) southeast of the town of Derby on the north coast of Western Australia. As it is one of the RAAF's three 'bare bases' no Air Force units are permanently based at Curtin and it is maintained by a small caretaker staff during peacetime. The base is named in honour of former Prime Minister John Curtin.
RAAF Curtin was the first new major military airfield to be built in Australia since World War II. Construction on the base began in 1983 and it was opened on 11 June 1988. The base was activated twice by the RAAF between 1988 and 2013. It was activated again in 2016 as part of Exercise Northern Shield.
From the late 1990s the base operated as Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre, a Commonwealth of Australia immigration detention centre, which closed in September 2002. However the centre was reopened in April 2010 to house around 60 Sri Lankan and Afghan asylum seekers whose applications were suspended.
Since 2007, direct flights have recommenced between Perth and Derby (RAAF Curtin) for the first time since Ansett stopped the service in 1992. These flights will cease at the end of February 2016.