Here's an article related to this from scoop
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3619187a13,00.html
Flight-test centre proposed at airport
29 March 2006
By JOHN MCCRONE
An ambitious plan to safeguard Christchurch's aviation industry by attracting aerospace giants Airbus and Boeing to the city is about to be hatched.
Auckland's Airwork New Zealand and FTI Engineering of Germany are in talks to create a new test facility at Christchurch International Airport and are expected to give details of their proposal at an international conference in the city next week.
The pair want to build a flight-test integration and qualification centre at the airport, which would pitch for work with the world's biggest aircraft manufacturers.
FTI already does a large amount of work for Airbus, and the Canterbury Development Corporation (CDC) hopes the German engineering business will decide to set up shop in Christchurch.
No financial figures on the deal have been released.
David Rycroft, the CDC's aviation project manager, confirmed FTI and Airwork would talk about the proposal next week.
Rycroft said a flight-test centre would open up a wide range of opportunities for aviation-related businesses and was all the more significant in the wake of Air New Zealand's recent threats of cuts in local aircraft maintenance work.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"We are not talking about just the creation of a few new engineering jobs here, but a whole support industry," Rycroft said.
The combination of Canterbury's wide open spaces and excellence in engineering made Christchurch a natural home for such a facility.
"Whenever modifications are made to an aircraft, like converting a passenger plane to a freighter, or using new engines, it has to be tested," Rycroft said.
"We have a skilled workforce that adapts easily. We are English-speaking, and people like to visit here. We have an uncluttered airspace and uncluttered wireless spectrums. So there are a lot of advantages to doing flight-testing here," he added.
Christchurch Airport is already home to about 800 Air New Zealand Engineering Services staff who do maintenance work for the national carrier and overseas customers, including the United States Government, Qantas and Virgin Blue.
The airline is also a joint venture partner with US jet engine giant Pratt and Whitney at the Christchurch Engine Centre, which repairs and overhauls a variety of engines, employing about 300 staff.
The Christchurch City Council has been a keen backer of the aviation industry, two years ago building a $20-million testing facility for new generation jet engines which has been leased back by the Air New Zealand and Pratt and Whitney venture.
Guy Tapley, the business development manager with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, said a flight-test centre was exactly the kind of new business the country needed.
He said large manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus kept the building of planes to themselves, but wanted to sub-contract out the job of modifying and updating aircraft. If planes are being tested here, it was then a short step to Kiwi firms doing the modification work themselves.
"We already have a good industry support structure," Tapley said. "We have the software developers, the electronics companies, the back-shop engineers."
"There will be lots of opportunity for new business," he added.
Rycroft said there was already a new brand name to push New Zealand's capability in this area – Space, or the South Pacific Centre of Excellence.
Rycroft said universities and other institutions were likely to be involved.
The Airwork-FTI flight-test centre would be "hubbed" at Christchurch airport.
However, it was likely to use airfields all round the country, he said.
Airwork could not be contacted for comment.
Chief flight-test directors for both European-based Airbus and United States-based Boeing will be sharing the podium at the conference next Wednesday.
Ian Diamond, former general manager of engineering at Air New Zealand, has organised next week's International Meeting of Aviation Products and Support Processes (IMAPP), which will be held at the Christchurch Convention Centre.
IMAPP was going to be the most important aerospace conference to be held in New Zealand for many years, Diamond said.
