By early 1988 both No. 3 and No. 77 Squadrons had successfully converted to the F/A-18, and No. 79 Squadron was no longer required. Preparations to return the unit's Mirages to Australia took place during the first months of 1988, and on 3 May they departed Butterworth. As the RAAF's F/A-18 Hornet squadrons were to be based in Australia, this marked the end of the permanent deployment of RAAF fighters to Butterworth that had begun in mid-1958. No. 79 Squadron's aircraft commemorated the occasion by conducting a spectacular low-altitude flypast of the base, the first leg of which commenced at transonic speed. The aircraft were flown to Woomera in central Australia to be placed in storage via Paya Lebar, Bali, Darwin and RAAF Base Tindal. Most of No. 79 Squadron's ground crew returned to Australia in late May, and the squadron was formally disbanded at Butterworth on 30 June 1988.