SOUTHPORT
FLYING CLUB

GOLD COAST QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA

About The Club

Southport Flying Club is a long-standing, volunteer-driven aviation community based on the northern Gold Coast. For more than five decades, the Club has played a quiet but vital role in supporting aviation, emergency services, and the broader community of South-East Queensland.

At its heart, the Club exists to promote safe, responsible recreational flying, strong airmanship, and lifelong learning in aviation. But its contribution extends well beyond the runway.

A Community Asset

The airfield is home to Polair, the Queensland Police Service helicopter operation, providing critical airborne policing, search and rescue, and emergency response capability for the Gold Coast and surrounding regions. Having this capability based locally enhances response times and public safety for the entire community.

Southport Flying Club is also a base for Angel Flight Australia, a national charity that transports people from rural and regional areas to essential medical appointments. Several Club members generously donate their time, aircraft, and expertise to ensure patients can access specialist care they might otherwise miss. These flights quietly change lives every week.

In times of natural disaster, the airfield represents a resilient piece of local infrastructure. Light aircraft and experienced pilots can assist with reconnaissance, logistics, and access to isolated communities when roads are cut or conditions on the ground are challenging.

A Place Built by Volunteers

What exists today was not handed down or commercially developed. The airfield began in the early 1970s when a small group of pilots and gliding enthusiasts cleared swamp land by hand. The first hangar was built in 1972, and in 1978 the land was purchased by Gold Coast City Council as a municipal asset, with the clear intent that it be used for community - not commercial - purposes.

Since then, the licensed aerodrome and all associated facilities have been built, maintained, and improved entirely through the effort and funding of Club members. The Club is self-funded, financially responsible, and operates without ongoing government grants or council subsidies.

More Than a Flying Club

Today, Southport Flying Club provides:

A safe and well-maintained base for private aviation
A hub for emergency services and community organisations
A welcoming environment for pilots, families, visitors, and guests
A living example of how volunteer organisations can create enduring public value

Members rightly take pride in what has been achieved, not just for aviation enthusiasts, but for the wider Gold Coast community.