Cairns International Airport
Cairns, Queensland (Australia)
IATA: CNS ICAO: YBCS
Longest Active Runway
10,489 ft
3,197 meters
Field Elevation
10 ft
3 m MSL
Runway Inventory
1 active
1 closed, Lighted / Paved
Coordinates & Class
-16.8789°, 145.7495°
LARGE AIRPORT
🏆
Derived Facts, National & Global Rankings
National Runway Rank
#8 in Australia
Out of 537 commercial aerodromes
Global Runway Rank
#796 Worldwide
Top 10.5% percentile
Elevation Ranking
#7006 MSL
Top 96.4% percentile
vs Large Airport Median
+4.9%
Compared to 10,000 ft baseline
💡 Database Insight: Cairns International Airport's longest active runway measures 10,489 ft (3,197 m). It ranks as the #8 longest runway in Australia and #796 worldwide among indexed commercial aerodromes.
🛫 Physical Runway Inventory & Surface Engineering
| Runway Designator | Length (ft / m) | Width (ft / m) | Surface Material | Lighting | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/33 | 10,489 ft (3197m) | 148 ft (45m) | Asphalt (ASP) | ✅ Lighted | ✅ Active |
| 12/30 | 3,035 ft (925m) | 60 ft (18m) | Asphalt (ASP) | ❌ Unlighted | ⛔ Closed |
🛡️ Data Provenance & Verification Metadata
Source Dataset: OurAirports Open Aviation Database
Snapshot Version: 2026-09-01
Verification Method: SHA-256 Checksum Lock
Calculation Model: Haversine Great-Circle
Machine-readable endpoint:
GET /api/airport/cns.json ↗