TSVYBTL

Townsville Airport / RAAF Base Townsville

Townsville, Australia · Oceania

Oceania Australia/Brisbane

16direct destinations

7airlines

2runways

2,438 mLongest runway

RAAF Base Townsville (IATA: TSV, ICAO: YBTL) (formerly RAAF Base Garbutt) is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) air base located in Garbutt, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) west of Townsville in Queensland, Australia. It is the headquarters for No. 1 Wing Australian Air Force Cadets and, along with Lavarack Barracks, establishes Townsville as a key military centre. The base uses the Townsville Airport.

Location

19.253°S, 146.767°E · 5 m s. n. m. (18 ft)

General data

CountryAustralia

CityTownsville

IATA codeTSV

ICAO codeYBTL

Coordinates19.253°S, 146.767°E

Elevation5 m s. n. m. (18 ft)

Time zoneAustralia/Brisbane

Runways2

Longest runway2,438 m

OperatorReal Fuerza Aérea Australiana

Direct destinations16

Runways · 2

01/19

Length2,438 m7,999 ft

Width45 m148 ft

SurfaceAsphalt

Lighted✓

07/25

Length1,100 m3,609 ft

Width30 m98 ft

SurfaceAsphalt

Lighted✓

Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.

Radio frequencies · 6

Tower

118.300TWR · CTAF

Ground

121.800

Clearance delivery

128.100CLNC DEL

ATIS (automatic information)

133.500

Approach

126.800APP/DEP

Flight information

120.550BRISBANE CNTR

Look for a live feed on LiveATC External site; not every airport has a feed.

Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.

History

An airport on the location now known as RAAF Base Townsville was first established in the late 1930s for civil aviation, and was then further developed as part of Australia's military preparations for the coming war. Plans were being drawn up for the RAAF base well before the commencement of hostilities in Europe, and the field was fully operational with a squadron of fighter aircraft in service fourteen months before Japan entered the war. The base still functions with many of its early buildings performing their original purpose nearly 70 years after their plans were first drawn up.

Airlines operating here · 7

Other airlines with direct routes

QantasLink Rex Airlines Alliance Airlines Jetstar Airways Airnorth Qantas Airways Virgin Australia

Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).

Photo: Duan Zhu · CC BY 3.0 · view original

Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

See all airports Search “Townsville”

Cite

To cite this page in academic work, an article or Wikipedia, choose the style and copy the reference. The access date is today.

This page was last updated on October 15, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Townsville Airport / RAAF Base Townsville (TSV). Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TSV

MLA

“Townsville Airport / RAAF Base Townsville (TSV).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TSV. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Townsville Airport / RAAF Base Townsville (TSV).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TSV.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Townsville Airport / RAAF Base Townsville (TSV). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TSV (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_tsv,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Townsville Airport / RAAF Base Townsville (TSV)}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-15},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TSV},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TSV}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/TSV |title=Townsville Airport / RAAF Base Townsville (TSV) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}