# Emerald Airport (EMD)

> Emerald, AU · IATA: EMD · ICAO: YEML · Medium Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `EMD` |
| ICAO | `YEML` |
| City | Emerald |
| Country | AU |
| Type | Medium Airport |
| Elevation | 190 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | -23.56750, 148.17900 |

## Description

Emerald Airport (EMD/YEML) in Central Queensland is the air freight access point for the Central Highlands farming and coal-mining district, with regional freight facilities run by both Qantas Freight and Virgin Australia Cargo. Cargo moves as belly freight on domestic services to Brisbane operated by QantasLink, Virgin Australia Regional and Alliance Airlines using Embraer E190, Fokker 100 and Dash 8 Q400 equipment; no dedicated freighter operation is confirmed. Typical traffic is spare parts and urgent goods for the surrounding coal mines — the Ensham operation lies about 40 kilometres east — together with consumer and agricultural goods for the Emerald district. International consignments are not cleared at Emerald: customs formalities happen at Brisbane International (BNE), which is also the nearest intercontinental cargo gateway, while Rockhampton (ROK) and Mackay (MKY) serve as coastal alternatives. The airport sits roughly six kilometres south of town on the Gregory Highway, which together with the Capricorn Highway links the region to the coast and the ports of Gladstone and Mackay. For heavy or oversized mining equipment, sea freight plus line-haul trucking remains the norm, with air cargo reserved for time-critical items.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/emerald-airport-emd](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/emerald-airport-emd)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/emerald-airport-emd](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/emerald-airport-emd)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/emerald-airport-emd/llm-summary*