Redland Bay Flying Boat Base
From 1953 to 1971, Qantas Empire Flying Boats operated from Redland Bay. These were mainly Sunderland flying boats traveling from Sydney to the United Kingdom. Ansett, formerly known as Barrier Reef Airways also operated flying boats from Redland Bay, taking tourists to Hayman Island in North Queensland.
Redland Bay was the closest suitable site to Brisbane for a water airport. Since it operated international flights, Brisbane Water Airport at Redland Bay became Brisbane's International Airport for a time.
Pre-1946, flying boats used the Hamilton Reach of the Brisbane River. The State and Federal Governments argued for several years over the continued use of the Hamilton Reach, which was congested with shipping and unusable after dark.
Activity at Redland Bay reached its peak in the 1950s with 105 commercial flying boat movements in July 1953. There was a steady decline after that until the base was finally closed in 1971. After 1971, Qantas began operating the new Boeing 747 long-haul aircraft that made the Flying Boats obsolete.
The terminal for the Flying Boat Base was at Banana Street, Redland Bay, near the present location of the Bay Island ferry service. Flying boat passengers waiting to embark, and those in transit could wait and be refreshed at the Redland Bay Hotel while the Flying Boats were serviced for the onward journey.
The flying boat would leave Rose Bay in Sydney at 7:30pm and arrive at Redland Bay at around 11:00pm. Two hours later, she was back in the air, en route to Nouméa in New Caledonia, where passengers would go ashore for breakfast. Several days, and many stops later, the flying boat would arrive in London. By contrast, in 2009, travelling on a long-haul 747, passengers can fly direct from Brisbane to London via Singapore in less than 24 hours for a mere fraction of the cost.
The arrival of the flying boat in Redland Bay near midnight did not go unnoticed by the local residents. A powerful searchlight swept the watery runway to guide the pilot. Launches carrying passengers, luggage, fuel, freight, refreshments and mail made their way to and from the moored flying boat. Voices carried clearly across the calm water.
The Qantas service to Nouméa flying boat came to and end in the mid-fifties, to be replaced by direct flights between Sydney and la Tontouta airport by DC4, DC6b, Lockheed Electra, Boeing 707 and Boeing 747 successively.
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