Air NZ wants to be heard on Wellington runway extension

Air New Zealand wants to make a case against the 350-metre Wellington runway extension at the resource consent application hearing.

It has asked the Environment Court to be allowed to do so. 

Chief strategy, networks and alliances officer Stephen Jones said while the airline is usually supportive of airport developments, the Wellington proposal has "no customers and no business case", contains serious analytical flaws, and has been developed without the benefit of Air NZ's knowledge of route development.

Air New Zealand is submitting a Section 274 notice to the court  so it can put its case on the likely usage by airlines and the proposed economic benefits of the runway extension.

A study commissioned by the lobby group for international airlines, including Air New Zealand, concluded the proposal fails on the grounds that lower North Island and South Island travellers are already flying to long-haul destinations through Auckland or Christchurch and the region is not a tourist magnet.

The study by Australian-based Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consultants for the Board of Airline Representatives in New Zealand, says the likelihood of airlines establishing new long-haul services to the capital was "extremely remote, implausible at best". Two-thirds of 700 public submissions also opposed the project.

Wellington Airport, owned 66% by infrastructure company, Infratil and 33% by the Wellington City Council, wants central government and Wellington ratepayers to pay for the majority of the extension costs because it argues the benefits would accrue more to the country and the region rather than the airport owner, which cannot justify the expansion on purely commercial grounds.

A variety of other opponents to the 355-metre extension have also filed to be heard at the Environment Court deliberations, expected next year, with ratepayer and resident associations expressing concern at recent estimates that blew the cost of the runway extension out from $300 million to more than $420 million.

(BusinessDesk)