Wellington Airport

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Dominion Post....

Jetstar announces new Tasman routes

By Dominion Post staff reporters | 12:57PM - Tuesday, 09 September 2014


NEW ROUTE: Jetstar trans-Tasman service between Wellington and the Gold Coast.

JETSTAR has flown in with two new Tasman routes to take off later this year, including its first international service from Wellington.

The airline today announced it would start flying three times a week from Wellington to the Gold Coast, and from Queenstown to the Gold Coast as well.

Tickets for the Wellington service will normally start at $179, and will cost $229 from Queenstown, though a special deal accompanying the announcement will sell fares for the routes from $99 and $129, respectively.

The new service would launch in early December.

The low-cost airline made the announcement at Wellington airport today, where it was tipped a new trans-Tasman service would be launched.

Wellington Airport said this year its short-term aim was “very much about extending trans-Tasman opportunities”.

Wellington Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said in March the airport was keen to entice Jetstar and Emirates to run trans-Tasman flights from Wellington.

“[We are the] only major airport in New Zealand which Jetstar doesn't operate on across the Tasman, so we are continuously having discussions with them,” Sanderson said in March.

Listed investment company Infratil owns two-thirds of Wellington Airport, with the balance held by Wellington City Council.

Infratil gave the green light this year for a $110 million upgrade of Wellington Airport, extending the airport's terminal, as well as runway improvements and more parking.

Jetstar has about 20 percent of the domestic New Zealand market on flights between Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland, Queenstown and Dunedin.

Parent company Qantas flies the Tasman from Wellington, with special fares as low as $229 one-way to Melbourne or Sydney, according to its website.

The Qantas flight to Sydney leaves at 6.45am, meaning an early check-in for travellers.

Qantas also has flights departing in the afternoon, which are more likely to be picked up by Jetstar as the timing of these flights are leisure-travel focused.

Qantas would be kept on the morning and night-return flights to target business travellers and compete with Air New Zealand.

Virgin Australia, in alliance with Air NZ, also flies from Wellington in the afternoon but is adding business class to its Tasman services.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/61128615/Jetstar-announces-new-Tasman-routes

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Dominion Post....

Longer runway gets the big tick

By MICHAEL FORBES | 5:00AM - Thursday, 11 September 2014

EXTENDING Wellington Airport's runway by 300 metres would open up the possibility of direct flights to Los Angeles and Dubai, as well as Asia.

The airport will today release a detailed report by consultants EY (formerly Ernst & Young) on the economic impact of adding to the southern end of the runway.

The report identifies several reasons for pressing ahead with the $300 million project. The expected influx of tourists, business people and international students could inject as much as $1.75 billion into the national coffers, and $684m into the Wellington economy by 2060.

International travel time would be slashed by up to a third for those within the airport's catchment area, which includes Nelson-Marlborough and Hawke's Bay.

“That saving in both time and cost is particularly important for the region's businesses, who need to operate as efficiently as possible and expand their global connections,” airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said.

The runway extension would enable newer wide-bodied jets, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350, to fly in and out of Wellington, opening direct links to anywhere within 12 hours.

It would also allow airlines such as Emirates to operate larger aircraft between Wellington and Australia.

The EY report draws on research by aviation consultants InterVistas, which found that by 2019 — when the runway extension could be completed — daily flights to Singapore, Hong Kong or Dubai via Melbourne would turn a profit for airlines operating out of Wellington.

A return service to Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur three or four times a week would also work. Bangkok was not fully assessed, but was also listed as an option.

Wellington's demand for long-haul flights was more than 600 passengers a day each way — much more than the 220 typically needed to fill a Boeing 787.

Sanderson said an engineering solution and final cost for the extension were still to be worked out. But it was clear the project justified funding from both the airport and regional ratepayers.

Wellington Deputy Mayor Justin Lester said the city council believed the time was right for investment in a longer runway. “It would be a catalyst project for the city and the region.”

Greater Wellington Regional Council chairwoman Fran Wilde welcomed the report: “Economic growth in the Wellington region still lags behind Auckland — and in fact the rest of New Zealand — and Wellington's connectedness is a key issue.”

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said the Government would be watching with interest, but its primary responsibility was to invest in public infrastructure.

Kristina Cooper, legal counsel for the Board of Airline Representatives NZ, said the project's economic benefits might not look quite so good against the costs.

It remained to be seen how much of the $300m would come from ratepayers and how much would be placed on airlines through higher terminal charges, which could be passed on to passengers through increased ticket prices, she said.

Moa Point Road resident Martyn Howells, 78, was aghast at the thought of the runway eating into the view he had fallen in love with since migrating from Wales in 2003. He feared years of runway construction, additional noise and vibrations from aircraft taking off right by his doorstep, as well as the effects on his view.

Sanderson said surveys had shown 85 percent of Wellingtonians were in favour of the extension. The extra noise and number of aircraft landing would be minimal, given there were already 100,000 aircraft movements a year.

STORY SO FAR

• March 2013: Wellington Airport confirms it is considering a 300-metre runway extension.

• May 2013: WCC contributes $1m towards the $2m cost of research and resource consent.

• July 2014: Airport all but rules out a northern extension as too complex and costly to remove 40 metres of silt below the seabed.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/10483961/Longer-runway-gets-the-big-tick

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from The Dominion Post....

Runway extension not a done deal

EDITORIAL | 5:00AM - Friday, 12 September 2014

THE CASE for an extended runway at Wellington Airport has just had a major boost. Consultancy EY says the extension to the south could bring an extra $684m into the Wellington economy by 2060. It finds that the runway would allow the new generation of wide-bodied jets to fly direct to a wide range of destinations. Daily flights to Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai would be profitable.

This report is an important new weapon in Wellington's arsenal for the coming political battle over the airport. It argues, for instance, that the benefits are national as well as regional. The influx of tourists, businesspeople and students could bring as much as $1.75 billion into New Zealand. This matters, because only if there is a substantial national benefit can Wellington argue for government support.

The Government has been consistently cool towards the idea. Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said in July that “a lot of people take the view that some free taxpayer money would be very worthwhile”. Also, many airport projects had turned out much less profitable than their proponents thought. And some have been disasters.

Joyce is right to require Wellington to make a good case. And that case has still to be made in detail. Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson says an engineering solution and a final cost for the extension are still to be worked out.

So the crucial question — how much of the estimated $300m of the project's cost will have to come from ratepayers and taxpayers — remains unanswered. Infratil, the airport's corporate co-owner with Wellington City Council, has an obvious interest in loading as much of the cost on to others as possible. Business loves to preach the virtues of rugged capitalism, but few will refuse a handout from the government when it suits.

So the business case for the airport extension will have to be impeccable.

The airlines are worried that some of the project's costs will be loaded on to them through higher terminal charges. They have been engaged in a long battle with the airport about alleged monopoly pricing, and for good reasons.

Finally, there will be plenty of opposition to the project on environmental grounds. Local people promised a formidable battle over the proposed northern extension, which now seems to have been abandoned. Certainly the southern extension seems a better proposition, both on cost and environmental grounds.

But no-one should suppose that the project would get a green light under the planning legislation. The refusal to give permission for the Basin Reserve flyover is a warning against complacency.

Finally, the extended airport won't bring any benefit to Wellington unless airlines want to use it for new international destinations — and so far no airline has said it will. They are wisely waiting to see how the project shapes up. Equally, Wellington has wisely decided to proceed with the project only if the airlines back it. Nobody thinks we should build it and hope they will come. The road to the new Wellington Airport is a long one.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/editorials/10488880/Editorial-Runway-extension-not-a-done-deal

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Dominion Post....

Airport extension a great idea but who will pay?

By DAVE ARMSTRONG | 5:00AM - Monday, 06 October 2014



DID YOU KNOW that since 1928 Wellington Airport's runway length has meant that the most modern aircraft of the day have not been able to use it?

Nor did I — until I read a full-page ad in this newspaper.

Though I am aware that length isn't everything, the ad got me clicking on to the flash Connect Wellington website.

It has a lovely animated graphic of what I thought was Wellington Airport being Scud-missiled by US forces Baghdad-style, until I realised it was planes landing and taking off at night.

Though the website's graphics are sumptuous and the patronising voice-over clear as a bell, Connect Wellington forgot to put a “who are we?” tab on its website.

But from the fine print saying that the runway extension is a Wellington Airport and Wellington City Council initiative, I'm assuming the expensive website and newspaper advertising was paid for by Wellington Airport, which is mainly privately owned, though Wellington City Council has a 34 percent share.

At the last local body elections, a runway extension was almost unanimously approved by mayoral candidates.

The million-dollar-per-metre extension would allow flights from Dubai and Dallas and open up our economy in the same way the Terrace Tunnel and Basin Flyover were going to, we were told.

Strangely enough, a lone voice of doubt was Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, who wanted to see more evidence it would be a winner.

EY (formerly Ernst & Young) were commissioned by Wellington Airport to do a study, which reckoned a 300-metre extension to the southern side of the airport — into calm and wave-less Cook Strait — would bring nearly $1.75 billion of benefits to the country and $700 million to Wellington by the time I'm 100.

Though you could argue “they would say that, wouldn't they”, Wellingtonians should take the proposal seriously.

I would love to be able to fly to North America directly from Wellington, though I can't help thinking that if my recent flight from Auckland to Vancouver was so empty that a bum like me got upgraded to premium economy, would a direct flight from Wellington be packed to the rafters?

We used to have direct flights to Samoa, but it was lack of patronage, not runway length, which led to them being ditched.

Wellington Airport and its echo Chamber of Commerce might believe in the “build it and they will come” theory but, like Joyce, I'm not entirely convinced.

The big question that every Wellington ratepayer should be asking is if the runway extension does go ahead, who should pay for it?

If I owned 34 percent of a holiday home and the other owners wanted to re-pave the driveway I would expect to pay 34 percent of that cost.

But I have a nagging feeling we will be asked to pay more.

An extension could definitely help our local economy and make life much easier for people in the Wellington region, but we should also remember that if successful it would increase profit massively for Wellington Airport.

Ratepayers could also consider what benefits the local economy might get if millions of dollars were invested instead into developing local businesses or making Wellington a more attractive place for tourists.

And if the runway extension did go ahead and large numbers of overseas visitors piled in, how would our crappy transport infrastructure cope? Surely if there's an argument for spending millions to get overseas visitors to our airport there's an equally valid argument to spend money getting them into town.

Perhaps a light rail link from the airport isn't so outrageous after all?

Could a runway extension also attract funding from central government? Joyce has said he would watch with interest, though added that the Government's primary responsibility was to invest in public [not private] infrastructure. Damn Leftie.

Whatever the outcome, ratepayers should remain on alert. They might decide that a modest investment in a business in which they had a modest share would provide a great asset.

Or they might decide that, as has happened with many public-private partnerships, it's often the poor taxpayer or ratepayer who gets the minimum benefits and faces the maximum risks.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/dave-armstrong/10582270/Airport-extension-a-great-idea-but-who-will-pay

[Peter Lewis]

I can tell you now how it will go:

The ratepayer/taxpayer will pick up the bill.
The corporate investors will pick up the profits.

[dakman]

Napier airport extension was made on the premise .
We make the runway longer more airlines will fly here ,
of course. did.nt happen .I was a rate payer there both.
City council and regional. when it was constructed .
Have recently moved from HB but I believe all the
extension has allowed is for carriers to depart with
more fuel , nothing has changed . It would seem we will
have a who moves first situation in Wellington .
As is often said .further develoments are awaited .

[Dave Homewood]

Hamilton was the same. Ratepayers forked out big money to extend the runway so larger planes could come in there and now it only gets small planes!

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Hahaha....thinking outside the box....


• Wellington Airport runway length solution

[Dave Homewood]

Hilarious!

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Dominion Post....

Is this Wellington's most depressing street?

By NEIL RATLEY | 5:00AM - Saturday, 18 October 2014


FEARS FULFILLED: Locals John Parbhu and Eric Coulson say Bridge Street has, as predicted,
become a wasteland. — MAARTEN HOLL/Fairfax NZ.

IT'S the street of two halves — on one side, the weeds have taken over, homes are boarded up, and petty criminals have moved in. On the other side, the Kiwi quarter-acre dream is still firmly alive.

Bridge Street in Rongotai is collateral damage in Wellington Airport's master plan — and those who are left are none too pleased about living in a wasteland.

In 2012, the master plan — to be completed by 2030 — identified 44 homes in the street that had to go so more planes could land and take off.

The airport owned half those properties and gave its tenants six months to move out. The owners of homes not owned by the airport could stay, but would eventually have no choice but to sell.

At the time, residents who were staying feared they would end up living in a wasteland as the houses around them disappeared. Today, long-time Bridge Street homeowners Erin Coulson and John Parbhu say that prophecy has come true.

The neighbours said airport authorities had assured those residents staying that, as the condemned homes were knocked down or taken away, the sections would be cleaned up.

However, some houses had remained empty for months after the tenants left, and some sections were a mess, Coulson and Parbhu said.

Coulson said the abandoned houses attracted the wrong people. “They have been destroyed by vandals and looters and used for illegal activity.”

He understood the need for the airport to expand but said for those residents who were staying put it was still important to live in a tidy street, not a ghetto.

The residents also said there had been a lack of communication from the airport about the progress of the redevelopment.

Parbhu said those still left in the street did not know what was going on.

His mother Laxmi, known widely as Ma, agreed. “I think they have forgotten about us or don't care.”

There had been no communication from the airport for a long time, she said. “It's heartbreaking to see what this great street has become.”



The Parbhus will eventually have to leave their home — the airport has the same rights as a local authority to acquire land compulsorily under the Public Works Act — but until then they want to live in a clean and safe neighbourhood.

Airport spokesman Greg Thomas said there had been a delay in removing the final properties on the street, which he blamed on a contractor.

“We have already removed 23 properties and the remaining three properties have been vacant for around a year.”

The airport had hired another contractor, who was about to start removing the few remaining properties from Monday, he said.

He had been informed some vacant properties had been tagged with graffiti or broken into and those properties would be demolished as soon as possible.

Fences had been put up around the remaining empty houses, he said. Empty sections had been flattened, with grass sown and native grasses planted. However, there were a few sites still to be grassed.

The last properties would be removed in the next fortnight and landscaping would start immediately after, Thomas said.

Related news stories:

• Control tower ‘a plane spotter's dream’

• Airport to remove homes in noise zone

• Family matters to tenants ousted from airport

• Airport plans may create ‘wasteland’

• Rongotai homes near airport disappearing

• Wellington Airport hotel plans approved

• Airport unveils $40m terminal plans

• Growing pains at Wellington Airport

• Moving a hill to way for an airport

• Airport to stretch south, not north

• Airport runway to extend into Lyall Bay

• Longer runway gets the big tick

• Editorial: Runway extension not a done deal

• Airport extension a great idea but who will pay?

www.stuff.co.nz/national/10631942/Is-this-Wellingtons-most-depressing-street

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Dominion Post....

Weta's downed eagle soars again

By DAVE BURGESS | 9:36AM - Friday, 31 October 2014


SPREAD EAGLE: Weta's eagle, after it fell in the airport in January. The eagle has returned to its
place with stronger cables. — KENT BLECHYNDEN/Fairfax NZ.

THE Weta Workshop eagle has landed — again — at Wellington Airport.

The banking eagle, which came loose during the 6.2 magnitude earthquake that rattled the region in January, was last night returned to its position not far from the main eagle ridden by Gandalf.

People were forced to dive for cover in January when the sculpture of Gwaihir the Windlord, with a 15 metre wingspan and weighing about a tonne, came crashing down on the airport's food court.

Weta Workshop general manager David Wilks said they were disappointed one of the eagles had suffered a failure in the earthquake and significant work has been done to determine how and why the eagle came loose and fell.

“These relate to the complexity of the installations and the stresses created by the seismic movements on them and the fixtures which support them,” he said.

“Some of the unique characteristics of the design, shape and hanging system for the banking eagle meant it reacted differently to the movement caused by the earthquake.”

The eagle was re-installed using a new hanging structure, which is able to handle considerably higher loads.

Wilks said the public could take comfort that the other main eagle, and the Gollum installation erected in 2012, had withstood the January earthquake. Gollum also survived several large earthquakes in 2013.

The airport's infrastructure general manager Geoff Eban said that the safety of the travelling public was paramount, and immediately following the earthquake, all installation connections were reinforced as a further precaution.

“We know visitors to the airport get a lot of enjoyment from these installations so we are delighted we can put them back in place, along with an assurance to the public that every effort has gone in to assessing the safety elements.”

Victoria University student Lauren Stone said she was sitting with a friend underneath the eagle when the January quake struck shortly before 4pm.

“It started shaking heaps and rattling so we jumped under the table,” she said.

“The eagle fell on top of us.”

Its wing knocked the table over, giving Stone a blow on the head.

“We ran away. All the mums were screaming, it was quite panicked.”

The airport and Weta Workshop both commissioned independent engineering reports to ensure that the causes of the issues in January were understood and resolved. Worksafe New Zealand determined no action was required over the incident.

The second flight of the eagle comes after an announcement that the world premiere for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies would be held in London on December 1st.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/10684138/Wetas-downed-eagle-soars-again

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from the New Zealand Herald....

Smaug unveiled at Wellington airport

By REBECCA QUILLIAM - NZME | 12:50PM - Thursday, November 06, 2014


Richard Taylor with Smaug the Magnificent after the unveiling at Wellington Airport.
— Photo: Mark Mitchell.

SMAUG the Magnificent has been unveiled nestled in rocks overlooking the arrivals terminal at Wellington Airport today.

The latest Weta installation joins a giant eagle being ridden by Gandalf, and Gollum reaching for fish.

Today's massive sculpture was revealed in front of 200 Hobbit fans who are in New Zealand for the global Hobbit Fan Fellowship competition.

The dragon's piercing yellow eye blinks as travellers pass by and smoke is exhaled from his nostrils.

The installation was unveiled ahead of next month's premiere of the last in the Hobbit trilogy the Battle of the Five Armies.

Weta head Sir Richard Taylor said the company was thrilled to create the third installation for the airport.

“What could be better than Smaug — the great dragon of Middle-earth.”

“For me, Smaug is the ultimate creation of Tolkien's imagination and having a chance to bring this creation into Wellington Airport, along with the other characters we have done, was an opportunity not to be missed.”

Some key Smaug facts:

• 4.25 metres from nose to head.
• 2.92 metres high.
• 2.5 metres wide.
• 75 percent the size of the dragon in the Hobbit movies.

• Rebecca Quilliam is senior reporter at the NZME News Service office in Wellington.

www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11354295

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Related news story (including video of the unveiling) at The Dominion Post website:

• Smaug swoops in on Wellington Airport

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[kiwithrottlejockey]

from The Dominion Post....

$58m extension for Wellington Airport

By HANK SCHOUTEN | 4:07PM - Wednesday, 12 November 2014


ARTIST'S IMPRESSION: Artwork showing the Wellington Airport terminal extension.
— Picture: WARREN & MAHONEY.

WORK started today on a $58 million extension of Wellington Airport's main terminal.

The 18-month project will extend the main terminal building by about a third, with a 30-metre extension to the south and a doubling of the width of the two southern piers.

This will provide extra gates for aircraft and extra space in gate-lounges.

When completed the new terminal will have one major security check at the entrance to the passenger lounge, rather than at each gate. This means that only passengers will be allowed onto the piers.

Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said the extension would increase passenger capacity.

When the main terminal opened in 1999 it handled around 9,500 passengers a day. This had increased to 15,000 on average with busy days reaching up to 20,000.

The extension would initially cater for 5.5 million passengers a year.

The airport expects passengers numbers to grow 135,000 a year, reaching 6.3 million by 2022.

International passenger numbers are expected to grow 30 per cent and domestic passenger numbers are forecast to grow 10 percent in the next five years.

Hawkins Construction has been awarded the contract to build the Warren & Mahoney-designed extension.

Sanderson said it would feature floor to ceiling windows on the southwest pier to enhance natural light and views over the runway and Lyall Bay.

The design would ensure safe, effective and efficient airport operations for airlines and travellers as well as meeting regulatory requirements, such as aviation security.

The terminal extension is part of a $250m five year airport development plan.

Other projects include $30m worth of airfield engineering and apron work, further car park extensions and a new Rydges hotel.

www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/63126598/58m-extension-for-Wellington-Airport

[nzompilot]

I have to laugh that the "Warren & Mahoney Artist's Impression" with that story shows an Air New Zealand 747 taking off. I know its just an "impression" but still they could try for a little accuracy.....

nzompilot

[Dave Homewood]

Also on first glance I thought that was the sea and a man in a dinghy!

[errolmartyn]

Nov 13, 2014 11:44:52 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Also on first glance I thought that was the sea and a man in a dinghy!

Me too. Perhaps it's a post-climate change impression.

Errol

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Nah.....it's a futuristic impression of Wellington Airport after a big snow-dump caused by wildly-fluctuating weather extremes as a result of climate change caused by global warming....

[suthg]

Nov 13, 2014 11:40:29 GMT 12 nzompilot said:

I have to laugh that the "Warren & Mahoney Artist's Impression" with that story shows an Air New Zealand 747 taking off. I know its just an "impression" but still they could try for a little accuracy.....

nzompilot

Yes if it was truly looking to the future, there might be a 757 or Airbus something!! Full size 747's were never routed out of Wellington. Some 747SP's might have passed through there though but not regularly.

[delticman]

It goes something like this.................when the ANZ DC-8's finished, Qantas took over with 747SP's until the 767's arrived.