Carnarvon Airport (CVQ/YCAR) is one of the smaller airfields along the coast of Western Australia. It’s located east of the towncenter and is the gateway to the world for the region here. The airfield is regularly served by small aircraft like REX Saab 340s or Skippers Embraer 110s or Dash 8s. The mainly served destination is Perth here as it offers many connecting flights within Australia or even Asia and Arabia. Apart from the normal passengers aircraft (operated by REX or Skippers as said) the RFDS aircraft are a common sight here as well, which are carrying injured people from the outback or small cities to special or bigger hospitals as doctors by car are no alternative here due to high distances.

Written by Severin Hackenberger (Last visit: July 2016).

Rating
Movements
Airline Variety
Photo Locations
Weather
Airport Information
Runways
04/22	1.679m/5.509ft Asphalt
18/36	1.140m/3.740ft Asphalt
Terminal	There is only a little building, where all terminal operations are done.
Spotting Information
Ladder	Not needed, just if your lens is too wide for the crashgate at spot #2.
Car/Public Transport	Car is quite useful, especailly in summer, when it’s very hot! Nevertheless, there are some bus lines around the airfield.
Restrooms	Some gas stations and supermarkets in the city. Restrooms should also be available inside the terminal buildings.
Drinks/Food	In the city are a few supermarkets and restaurants.
Hotels	There are just a few motels/hotels in the area.
Season	Depends on the shots you wanna have, but summer season will probably be better, because you’ll have better weather and more hours of sun. But heat haze is a VERY BIG problem in summer.
Runway Usage
General Info	At CVQ isn’t that much traffic to find kinda “rules”, but the 04/22 is rather in use, than the 18/36. Apart from this, 22 for arrivals and 04 for departures seems to be the used Usage, if the wind is weak enough.

	Spot #1 – Robinson St – 22 Arrivals
WHERE	This spot is located along “Robinson Street”, which connects the city center with the “N W Coastal Highway”. You can stop by the roadside with your car or park it inside one of the nearby parking areas and then search your favourite spot depending on the angle you prefer.
WHAT	Arrivals on runway 22.
TIME	From early midday till sunset.
MISC.	No ladder needed. Everything you need is inside the city as food or restrooms.
FOCAL LENGTH	70-300mm

CVQ-Spot1

	Spot #2 – Crashgate – Apron + nearby runway/taxiway movements
WHERE	This spot is located along the fence near the crashgate, which can be seen on our overview shot linked below. This area is just next to the rental car return parking by the end of “James Street”. It’s very easy to reach this spot by car and you can park your vehicle along the raodside as there is enough space.
WHAT	Parked aircraft on the apron infront of you as well as the runwaycrossing (04/22 and 18/36).
TIME	Runway 18/36: From late midday till sunset. Runway 04/22: From early midday till sunset. Apron: Depending on the angle of parked aircraft the best times for spotting onto the apron can change, but it’s mostly better in the afternoon.
MISC.	Ladder might be useful, if your lens doesn’t fits through the fencewholes, but this event is quite rare. Everything you need is inside the city as food or restrooms. Heat haze is a BIG problem on the runway!
FOCAL LENGTH	18-300mm

CVQ-Spot2

CVQ-Spot2

CVQ-Spot2

Spot itsself looks like THIS.