Cairns International Airport

Compiled by Bill Gao

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

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Multi-Universe Rankings & Statistical Standing

How ranks work →

RunwayFacts Published Dataset

#496 of 650

In curated primary commercial index

Global Commercial Universe

#796 of 7558

Top 10.5% percentile worldwide

National Standing (Australia)

#6 of 9 in AU

#8 of 537 in full national registry

vs Large Airport Median

+4.9%

Compared to 10,000 ft baseline

💡 CNS in numbers: 10,489 ft longest runway · #496 of 650 published · #796 of 7,558 worldwide (top 10.5%) · #6 in Australia.

🔬 Operational & Aerodrome Engineering Comparative Analysis

Longest runway 8,000–10,499 ft

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Elevation & National Context

Lowland Aerodrome (<2,000 ft)

CNS lies at 3 m (10 ft), #629 of 650 published airports by elevation and 3.6 percentile among 7,558 worldwide. It is 21 ft below the Australia median (31 ft, 9 airports); MEL is highest at 434 ft, 424 ft higher than CNS.

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Regional Density & Alternates (100 NM)

0 Qualifying Aerodromes in Vicinity

No published neighbour with a paved runway of 5,000 ft or more within 100 NM of CNS. Nearest published airport: Brisbane International Airport (BNE), 752 NM, 11,680 ft (1,191 ft longer than CNS); none other within 250 NM.

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Runway Inventory & National Standing

Primary Runway: 10,489 ft (3,197 m)

CNS runway: 15/33 10,489 × 148 ft asphalt (asp). National standing: #6 of 9 in Australia; SYD leads by 2,510 ft (12,999 ft). +4.9% vs the 10,000 ft baseline.

🛫 Physical Runway Inventory & Surface Engineering

Runway Designator	Length (ft / m)	Width (ft / m)	Surface Material	Lighting	Status
15/33	10,489 ft (3197 m / 3.197 km)	148 ft (45m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active
12/30	3,035 ft (925 m / 0.925 km)	60 ft (18m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	❌ Unlighted	⛔ Closed

🛡️ Source: OurAirports Open Aviation Database, snapshot 2026-09-01 · Provenance →