14 June, 2019

If you could fly back in time, instead of the roar of jet engines on the runway at the Perth Airport site, you’d hear the clink of golf balls being hit down a fairway.

The ground on which the Perth Airport precinct is now located was once the Dunreath Golf Course. Then in 1938, after being identified as the best place for a new aerodrome, it became the base for the RAAF during the Second World War. 

In 1944, Australian National Airways (ANA) and Qantas were also given clearance to operate passenger aircraft from the site, which was then known as the Guildford Aerodrome.

In 1952, the airport's name was officially changed to Perth Airport and, after 40 years of expansion and development, today it is the fourth busiest airport in Australia and recently recognised as the best.

A lot has changed in air travel and at Perth Airport since 1938.

Take a trip back in time through the history of Perth Airport

Click a thumbnail below to start the image gallery.