Shellharbour Airport, formerly Illawarra Regional Airport, also referred as Albion Park Aerodrome or Wollongong Airport, is an airport located in Albion Park Rail, Shellharbour City, New South Wales, Australia. The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) is located at the airport. The airline Link Airways offers daily services from the airport to Melbourne–Essendon and Brisbane. Overview The airport is owned and operated by Shellharbour City Council. It is located at the intersection of the Princes Highway and Illawarra Highway at Albion Park Rail. The airport is an 80-minute drive from Sydney Airport and 60 minutes from Sydney's southern suburbs. A regular rail service is available at Albion Park Rail, 900 metres from the passenger terminal, on the South Coast rail line. The airport is home to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) and a range of tourism-related operations. History World War II As early as the 1920s, aviators had used fields in the Albion Park area for pleasure flights and demonstrations. RAAF Albion Park was built in 1942 as a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Operational Base during World War II on land compulsorily acquired by the Australian Government. The base was used to conduct pilot training and was considered an important strategic asset in the defence of the Illawarra, particularly the steelworks at Port Kembla. Decorated fighter ace Clive Caldwell, a local resident, received RAAF training at the airfield. A satellite airfield was constructed north of Cordeaux Dam to support operations at Albion Park. Post War Following the war, Trans Australia Airlines and Australian National Airways linked the airport with Canberra and Melbourne until 1950. From 1952, South Coast Airways operated a milk run between Sydney and Melbourne with intermediate stops in Wollongong (Albion Park), Bairnsdale and Sale. Ownership of the airfield was transferred to the Shellharbour Municipal Council in 1962. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited the airport during a 1970 tour of Australia. Also during the 1970s, Southbank Aviation introduced commuter services from Albion Park to Newcastle and Canberra. The company would later relocate operations to Sydney, but Shellharbour Airport remained an important facility for pilot training and aircraft maintenance into the 1980s. In 1990, the first master plan was prepared for the Shellharbour Airport (then named Illawarra Regional Airport), providing a framework for future management and developments when Shellharbour City Council assumed full responsibility for the operation of the airport. Throughout the 1990s,