| Scone Memorial Airport | |
| Iata: | NSO |
| Icao: | YSCO |
| Type: | Public |
| Owner: | Upper Hunter Shire Council |
| Operator: | Upper Hunter Shire Council |
| City-Served: | Upper Hunter Valley |
| Location: | Scone, New South Wales |
| Elevation-F: | 745 |
| Coordinates: | -32.0372°N 150.8322°W |
| Pushpin Map: | New South Wales |
| Pushpin Label: | YSCO |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in New South Wales |
| Metric-Rwy: | Y |
| R1-Number: | 11/29 |
| R1-Length-M: | 1,404 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Footnotes: | Sources: Australian AIP and aerodrome chart[1] |
Scone Memorial Airport, is a public airport in the Upper Hunter Valley, 4km (02miles) northwest of Scone, New South Wales, Australia. It was built to provide a public aerodrome replacing Nandowra aerodrome on located on "Nandowra", approx. 9 km south of Scone.
In 1937, No. 3 Squadron RAAF aircraft, including Hawker Demon and Avro Anson, together with an Aerodrome Defence Crew camped at Nandowra Aerodrome.
During World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force utilised Nandowra Aerodrome as an emergency landing ground.
Between 1988 and 2001, Yanda Airlines based an aircraft and pilots at Scone to operate commuter flights to Sydney via Singleton and Maitland. The company's fleet of PA-31 aircraft were also maintained by Scone Aircraft Maintenance at the airport until Yanda's grounding by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.[2]
There are currently no airlines serving Scone.
The airport is home to several businesses providing a range of services. These include:Scone Aero Club, a social club and Ultralight Flight Training Facility approved to conduct Recreational Aviation Australia instructor training[3] and which organised the "Warbirds Over Scone" series of Airshows in 1998, 2001 and 2003;Pay's Air Charter & Pay's Warbird Museum[4] Airspeed Aviation, an Air Charter operator and flying school;[5] Scone Aircraft Maintenance, an approved aircraft maintenance facility;[6] andAirPasture, an aerial application business.
In 2010, an agreement between the Upper Hunter Shire, State Government and local business owners secured up to $2 million in funding to update and expand the airport facilities. The upgrades include improved drainage, a runway extension and a new taxiway.[7] The runway extension was completed by May 2011. The Upper Hunter Shire has expressed an interest in attracting commuter airline services to the upgraded airport.[8]