AirportsCairns International Airport is a large airport serving Cairns, in Queensland, Australia. It has scheduled airline flights. Its IATA code, the three letters printed on tickets and baggage tags, is CNS.
Key facts
- IATA code
- CNS
- ICAO code
- YBCS
- City
- Cairns
- State or region
- Queensland
- Country
- Australia
- Kind
- Large airport
- Coordinates
- 16.8789° S, 145.7495° E
- Elevation
- 3 m (10 ft)
- Runways
- 1
- Longest runway
- 3,197 m (10,489 ft)
Airport codes
On a ticket or a baggage tag, CNS means Cairns International Airport. Pilots and air traffic controllers use a different, four-letter ICAO code: YBCS. ICAO codes that begin with Y belong to Australia. How the two kinds of code differ.
Where it is
The airport lies at 16.8789° S, 145.7495° E. It stands 3 metres (10 feet) above sea level.
Local time
Time now at the airport: loading
Time zone Australia/Brisbane, taken from the nearest town in the data. Flight times on tickets are always in the local time of each airport.
Runways
Cairns International Airport has 1 runway in the data. The longest is 3,197 metres (10,489 feet). That is long enough for most passenger jets. Among the 156 airports of Australia on this site with runway data, its longest runway ranks number 8.
| Runway | Length | Width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15/33 | 3,197 m 10,489 ft | 45 m | Asphalt | Yes |
The numbers in a runway name give its compass direction. How runway numbers work.
Nearest airports with scheduled flights
| Airport | Code | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Cooktown Airport | CTN | 171 km |
| Palm Island Airport | PMK | 226 km |
| Townsville Airport / RAAF Base TownsvilleTownsville | TSV | 285 km |
| Coen AirportCoen | CUQ | 447 km |
| Kowanyama AirportKowanyama | KWM | 454 km |
Distance to major airports
| To | Distance | Rough flying time |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi (DEL)India | 8,938 km | 11 h 15 min |
| Mumbai (BOM)India | 8,911 km | 11 h 15 min |
| Dubai (DXB)United Arab Emirates | 10,835 km | 13 h 35 min |
| London Heathrow (LHR)United Kingdom | 15,152 km | 18 h 45 min |
| New York JFK (JFK)United States | 15,403 km | 19 h 05 min |
| Los Angeles (LAX)United States | 11,571 km | 14 h 25 min |
| Singapore (SIN)Singapore | 5,006 km | 6 h 30 min |
| Tokyo Haneda (HND)Japan | 5,864 km | 7 h 35 min |
| Sydney (SYD)Australia | 1,974 km | 2 h 55 min |
Distances are the shortest path over the globe, worked out from the coordinates. Flying times are rough estimates for a direct jet flight. They do not mean that a direct flight exists. Work out the distance to any airport.
Links
Airport data: OurAirports, as downloaded on 11 November 2026. This page does not show live flights, terminals or airlines. For those, use the airport's or the airline's own site. See About and data sources.