Queenstown Airport

History

Queenstown Airport was first licensed to operate in 1935, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that commercial flights became commonplace, particularly commercial ‘flightseeing’ operations to Milford Sound. A regular scenic route between Queenstown and Milford Sound was first established by Southern Scenic Air Services Ltd in August 1951. Mount Cook Airline was the pioneer of tourist flights into Queenstown.

In the 1960s, the grass runway was lengthened and regular services from Christchurch began on 6 November 1961 operating DC-3s with three flights a week on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday to Queenstown via Mount Cook and onto Te Anau/Manapouri. Services to other domestic destinations soon followed. Later in 1969 HS-748 aircraft were used.

A mainstay of the Milford route was the Britten Norman Islander which began service in September 1970. They were used extensively on the flights to Milford Sound as well as on the Queenstown-Te Anau and Queenstown-Alexandra-Dunedin routes.

In 1995, Air New Zealand landed Queenstown Airport’s first trans-Tasman flight from Sydney and more flights quickly followed, mainly bringing skiers during the winter. From then on, an almost continuous expansion programme began in order to cater for passenger and airline demand.

The next major milestone was in 2004, when Qantas pioneered RNP AR (Required Navigational Performance, Authorisation Required) operations technology to Queenstown. The precision of the technology significantly improved service reliability which was a considerable benefit to the local community and to visitors.

Since then, passenger growth has been phenomenal and Queenstown Airport is now New Zealand’s fourth busiest airport and one of Australasia’s fastest growing airports. It serves as the direct domestic and international gateway to the lower South Island, providing easy accessibility to Queenstown. The airport even has its own claim to fame as a visitor attraction, being voted ‘World’s Most Scenic Airport Landing’ in 2015 by international private jet booking service PrivateFly.

RNP AR flight procedures introduced by Airways New Zealand in 2012, allowed jet aircraft to fly very precise paths in a range of weather conditions, improving airspace capacity and operational efficiency. The advanced navigation technology put in place has been a key enabler for the airport to pursue evening (after-dark) flights.

In May 2014, both New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) approved Queenstown Airport's foundation safety case for after-dark flights, contingent on the some additional infrastructure and onboard technology being implemented.

In June 2015, the airport launched its new international terminal and began the rollout of its next initiative - to introduce evening flights by winter 2016. Evening flights will allow the airport to further expand its capacity without building additional terminal infrastructure in the short term and take advantage of its full consented operational hours between 06:00 and 22:00, moving from an approximate 8-hour operating window during the winter peak to a 16-hour operating window. This will spread the peak times more evenly, unlock more opportunities for passengers to access the region, provide locals with more travel options and create job opportunities for the community.

In PrivateFly.com's 2015 survey to find the world's most scenic approaches, Queenstown Airport received the most votes.

Operations

Domestically, Air New Zealand connects Queenstown with Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch while Jetstar Airways operates services to Auckland. Auckland is serviced with Airbus A320 aircraft while Wellington and Christchurch are operated by a mix of A320 and ATR 72 aircraft. International flights have grown rapidly over recent years and year-round services operate to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Four airlines operate to these ports: Air New Zealand, Jetstar Airways, Qantas and Virgin Australia. International flights are operated on Airbus A320 or Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The winter season is a very busy one with over 59 direct flights arriving from East Coast Australia on average per week during the peak winter months.

Queenstown Airport is heavily used for tourist 'flightseeing', especially to Milford Sound and Aoraki Mount Cook, and is New Zealand's busiest helicopter port. Weather permitting, there is substantial daily charter traffic of light aircraft (mostly Britten-Norman Islander, Cessna 206, and Cessna 172) to Milford Sound and Te Anau on sightseeing trips. Air Safaris runs a link service to Lake Tekapo Airport.

Private jets are also a growing market, both short and long haul, with aircraft now flying direct from north Asia and the West Coast of the United States.

Further upgrades

In July 2011 newly installed runway lights were turned on for the first time. The lighting upgrade was designed to lower diversion rates at the airport due to low visibility. Queenstown is the last major airport in New Zealand to receive such an upgrade. The $2 million project included 34 transformers, 25 km of airfield lighting cable, 124 lights, and was funded by Airways NZ.

In June 2008, Queenstown Airport Corporation announced plans to install approach, runway and passenger area lighting - the airport has only Precision Approach Path Indicators (PAPI) available for pilot aid, so flying is limited to daylight hours.

Announcements in June 2010 were made with plans to triple the size of the baggage area to better cater for sustained passenger growth and the new airlines that had started flying into Queenstown. In April 2012 Queenstown Airport opened its new sealed cross-wind runway on the former grass runway; the cost of this project was $800,000 and took 10 months to complete. Sealing the runway reduced the number of disruptions as well as further improved safety."

Expansion work began in 2014 and the airport opened its new $17 million international terminal on 23 June 2015. The 4,100sqm expansion to the southern end of the terminal building doubled the size of the airport's international operations and features new and improved facilities, products and services. Key features include two new gate lounges which continue the theme of floor-to-ceiling alpine views, a new-look Duty Free store, a state-of-the-art Customs processing area, expanded airside retail outlets, a third baggage carousel and back-of-house handling areas. The new terminal has a mezzanine level on top to enable aerobridges to be included at a later stage.

In November 2015, Queenstown Airport commenced a $17 million series of major airfield infrastructure improvements designed to pave the way for evening flights in winter 2016 and improve overall safety and efficiency of operations.

Strategic partnership with Auckland Airport

On 8 July 2010, Auckland International Airport Limited, the operator of Auckland Airport, announced it had entered into an agreement to take a 24.99% shareholding in Queenstown Airport Corporation Limited and formed a strategic alliance between the two airports. The shareholding cost NZ$27.7 million, through the issue of new shares. The alliance was expected to generate an extra 176,000 passengers through Queenstown Airport.

Auckland Airport has an option to increase its shareholding in Queenstown Airport to 30-35% at any time up to 30 June 2011, subject to the approval of the Queenstown Lakes District Council. The new share capital would allow Queenstown Airport to fund growth of the airport's operating capacity and to pay regular dividends back to the community via the Queenstown Lakes District Council shareholding.

Incidents

On 28 April 1990, an Ansett New Zealand BAe 146-200 experienced a runway excursion upon landing. The aircraft rolled across firm grass and through a fence and across a 750mm ditch before coming to rest in soft pasture 97 metres from the runway end. The aircraft only incurred minor damage.

On 22 June 2010, a late-running Pacific Blue flight to Sydney took off from Queenstown. At the time, the airport had no runway lights, and the airline mandated a departure curfew of 30 minutes before evening civil twilight, allowing enough time for the aircraft to return to the airport in case of an emergency. The Boeing 737-800 took off on a departure requiring a visual segment, after curfew, and in poor weather. Passengers described a distressing takeoff procedure, with the aircraft flying very low above Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountain terrain. The take-off was deemed an endangerment to the safety of the 70 passengers and crew aboard by the Civil Aviation Authority. Both pilots were suspended over the incident, and in April 2011, the flight's captain was charged under the Civil Aviation Act with unnecessary endangerment. This charge was later reduced to one of a careless use of an aircraft, with a maximum fine of NZ$7,000. In March 2013, the pilot, Roderick Gunn, was found guilty.

In another separate incident in June 2010 two airliners were found to have had a high potential to have breached the 1000 foot vertical separation required, according to a report by the New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission. Both were Boeing 737 aircraft, one operated by Qantas Airways and the other by Pacific Blue. The report states that whether the minima was breached was not investigated further because in the circumstances it was clear that the potential for such a breach was high and that alone was a safety issue that needed addressing.

Because of the report and other concerns, Airways New Zealand and the Civil Aviation Authority have changed the procedures at Queenstown Airport. Flight paths have been altered for large passenger aircraft along with the innovative use of multilateration air traffic management which both organizations say will ensure this situation is unlikely to be repeated.