The History of Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine) 1920-2020 is the theme of a new photographic exhibition to be unveiled at the 2013 Open Day at the Airways Museum on Saturday 9 November. The exhibition will be on display for one year.

Most Melburnians have visited Melbourne Airport at one time or another. This exhibition will feature photographs charting the history of Melbourne Airport at Tullamarine. Unknown to most, there has been aviation activity at the present airport site since the 1920s: the first plans for a new, major airport at Tullamarine were drawn up in the 1940s. Construction of the present airport, necessary to accommodate a new generation of jet airliners on a site unencumbered by surrounding housing development, began in the 1960s and the airport opened in 1970. Forty three years later, the airport is looking forward to major expansion to accommodate enormously increased passenger numbers.

This exhibition is generously supported by Melbourne Airport.

The Open Day will also feature the unveiling of an Engineering Heritage National Marker at the Museum's Microwave Landing System (MLS) display. The Marker will be placed by the Institution of Engineers Australia to recognise the enormous technical and political achievement in having the Australian-designed system adopted as a world standard by ICAO. Melbourne Airport was the site for early trials of the system.