Wait Continues For New Design Of Wellington Airport Runway

The wait continues for a reviewed design of the runway end safety areas (RESAs) for the proposed extension of Wellington International Airport Limited (WIAL).

While significantly used for trans-Tasman flights, the current WIAL runway, owned jointly by Wellington City Council and infrastructure investment funder Infratil, is not long enough to enable direct long haul travel. To meet this need, the company seeks to extend the runway further south into the Cook Straight.

However, a successful Court of Appeal challenge by NZALPA instructed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to review its initial findings over the proposal’s RESAs. This also meant the parallel Environment Court process also had to be put on hold, following this appeal.

Just before Christmas 2017, this decision was further upheld by the Supreme Court, meaning the CAA as the appropriate regulator, must commence with a review of the application.

In reply to a formal request on Review progress from NZALPA, CAA’s Director Graeme Harris confirmed WIAL did submit a new proposal earlier this year. However, Harris contended, the CAA’s “initial assessment was that it required some modification to meet the procedural requirements outlined in the Supreme Court decision.”

“That feedback has been provided to WIAL and (the CAA) have not yet received a further amended proposal for substantive consideration,” said Harris.

NZALPA’s legal and technical team are staying close to developments and will update progress in upcoming editions of Uplink.