Te Anau Manapouri Aerodrome set to allow larger planes to land

Tuesday, 30 July 2019

The Te Anau Community Board will consider a proposal to allow bigger planes to land at the Te Anau Manapouri Aerodrome.

Te Anau Manapouri Aerodrome could be set to increase its certification to allow larger planes to land at the airport.

The Te Anau Community Board will discuss certifying the airport to receive planes carrying more than 30 passengers at their board meeting on Wednesday.

Southland District Councillor Ebel Kremer at the Te Anau-Manapouri Airport. He says increased tourists via an airport upgrade will benefit the region. [File photo]

The airport had the classification in the past, but it lapsed in 2015.

Southland District Councillor Ebel Kremer said the decision was all but signed off.

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He said the certification would be a boon for the region.

'It's a fantastic opportunity to fly people straight in and explore Manapouri, Te Anau and Fiordland,' Kremer said.

It was a matter of utilising such an important asset in Fiordland, he said.

A report by the Southland District Council infrastructure manager Dylan Rabbidge to be presented at the meeting says the certification would bring in an extra $85,000 over five years from chartered tours.

The Civil Aviation Authority Part 139 certification would cost the community board $37,500, which includes CAA site inspections at $300 per hour, a $7000 safety management plan and runway strength tests.

The board would discuss increasing fees for the attached function centre, but they did not plan ro raise plane landing and servicing fees.

A security fee could also be implemented at the airport, which is about five minutes drive from Manapouri and 18kms from Te Anau, on State Highway 95.

The report says private plane owners had requested security personnel be present at the airport.

Kremer remained tight lipped on what celebrities may have come through the gates, but said that hotels in the area often used the airport to ferry high-flying clients.

The airport had the certification until 2015, however Kremer said the need to re-certify was the result of CAA tightening their rules.

The council report says in 2015, in conjunction with CAA, the decision was made to relinquish the certification and the associated costs 'as it was not technically required'.

'Since this time, in 2017 CAA requirements changed introducing a process where CAA directors can require certification of aerodromes irrespective of their aircraft movements and scheduling. In April 2019, the aerodrome was subjected to a CAA inspection that determined Part 139 certification is once again required,' the report says.

A proposal to irrigate wastewater and produce silage near the airport was knocked back after public uproar in 2018.

Surveys at the proposed irrigation site, at the northern end of the airport, indicated a high attraction of large flocking birds could be a serious hazard to aircraft.