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Oamaru Airport

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Airport type
  
Public

Location
  
Oamaru

18/36
  
4,210

Elevation
  
30 m

Owner
  
Waitaki District Council

Operator
  
New Zealand CAA

Elevation AMSL
  
99 ft / 30 m

4,210
  
1,283

Code
  
OAM

Oamaru Airport

Address
  
Robertson Road, Waitaki Bridge 9493, New Zealand

Similar
  
Best Western Colonial, Waitaki Boys' High School, St Kevins College, Oamaru Motor Lodge, Heritage Court Motor Lo

Oamaru Airport (IATA: OAM, ICAO: NZOU) is an airport located 20 km north of Oamaru just alongside of state highway 1, at Hilderthorpe in the North Otago region and the Waitaki District of New Zealand.

Contents

History

On 10 December 1960 South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand commenced a Douglas DC-3 service linking Oamaru north to Timaru and Christchurch and south to Alexandra and Invercargill. Later a stop in Gore was added. These flights ended on 28 February 1966. Later that day Mount Cook Airlines (MCA) took over also using DC-3 aircraft, serving Timaru and Christchurch.

In October 1968 Mount Cook Airline began using the 52 seater HS-748 aircraft into Oamaru.

A new sealed runway at the Oamaru Airport was passed as fully operational in March 1975.

Regular scheduled services were withdrawn in 1989. In 2005 the Waitaki District Council decided to reseal the main runway.

When scheduled services resumed in 2006 and the first BAe Jetstream 32EP arrived from Christchurch (operated by Air National on behalf of Eagle Airways) a crowd of approximately 500 people were present to view its landing. The aircraft operating the inaugural service was renamed The Spirit of Waitaki in honour of the reintroduction of services to Oamaru. However, regular commercial flights to Oamaru were again withdrawn on 1 January 2010.

Aero Club

The North Otago Aero Club has been operating from the Oamaru Airport since 1956, and offers charter flights to Dunedin, Christchurch and Queenstown International Airports. In addition its Air Transport license allows flights to any airport in New Zealand. The main drawback with the club's service is that the small aircraft can only take two passengers.

Timeline of services

The town has been through a lot of hurdles to gain then lose its air service forcing residents to either travel south to Dunedin or north to Timaru to catch a flight.

  • 1975: NAC (later Air New Zealand) begins flights to Wellington via Timaru using Fokker Friendship aircraft.
  • 1 April 1990: Air New Zealand ends Fokker Friendship flights to Oamaru.
  • 23 April 1990: Air Nelson takes over flights with Metroliner aircraft.
  • 28 October 1991: Air Nelson ends flights and Oamaru is left without a commercial air service.
  • 1991-2006: Various options explored to reinstate air service.
  • 2005-2006: Waitaki District Council spends about $500,000 upgrading runway, terminal building and other facilities.
  • 2006: Waitaki Mayor Alan McLay starts negotiations for a new air service.
  • 20 June 2006: Eagle Airways announces a new service to Christchurch using its Beech 1900 and occasionally Air National Jetstream 32 aircraft were used.
  • 7 August 2006: First Beech 1900 flight lands at Oamaru to be greeted by about 120 people.
  • 18 May 2009: Eagle Airways changes schedule amid fears service is in financial trouble.
  • 13 October 2009: Eagle Airways announces service will end from 1 January 2010.
  • 1 January 2010: After making an announcement in October 2009, Eagle Airways withdraws service from Oamaru.
  • 4 June 2014: Mainland Air commences their short lived scheduled flights to Christchurch which ended in August.

    • References

    Oamaru Airport Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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