Dawn Princess - Cruise Ship Helipad

The 'airport' was not a land-based facility but the designated helipad on the cruise ship MS Dawn Princess. The helipad's designation (AU-0531) was retired when the parent vessel was sold by Princess Cruises to P&O Cruises Australia. The closure was an administrative change due to the sale and renaming of the ship, not a physical shutdown of a facility.

The physical helipad still exists and is operational. However, it is now located on the ship named 'Pacific Explorer,' which is the former Dawn Princess. The site continues to serve its original purpose as an emergency helipad for the cruise ship under its new ownership and name. The designation 'Dawn Princess - Cruise Ship Helipad (AU-0531)' is no longer in use.

The Dawn Princess helipad, identified by the ICAO code AU-0531, was a crucial safety feature of the cruise ship. Its primary and sole function was for emergency operations, specifically for medical evacuations (MEDEVAC). When a passenger or crew member required urgent medical attention beyond the capabilities of the ship's onboard medical center, a helicopter could land on the helipad to transport the patient to a shore-based hospital. It was not used for routine passenger transport or commercial flights. The ICAO code and the provided coordinates (a snapshot of its location while docked in Sydney Harbour) were used by air traffic control and helicopter pilots to safely identify and approach the moving or stationary vessel during an emergency.

There are no prospects for reopening the 'Dawn Princess - Cruise Ship Helipad (AU-0531)' because this specific designation was tied to the vessel's name. As the ship has been permanently renamed, the AU-0531 identifier is permanently retired. The physical helipad itself never ceased operations and remains in service on the 'Pacific Explorer'.