Proserpine airport is located about 13 kilometres from the town of Proserpine in the coastal region of Queensland. Proserpine is the gateway to the famous Whitsundays and is the administrative center of the Whitsunday shire. The town is situated on the Bruce highway about 275 km south of Townsville and about 125 km from Mackay. Proserpine has a population of about 4500 whereas the Whitsundays region has a total population of just over 14,000. The main industry in the area in addition to tourism is sugar, the sugar plantations were first established in the region in the 1880’s and now the Proserpine sugar mill processes in excess of 2 million tons of sugar cane every year.