Wide-body jets line up 2.2km runway

A new report has given the developers of a proposed Central Otago airport confidence that large wide-body jets will be able to land at the planned site.

Christchurch Airport Ltd released the aeronautical assessment of the site near Tarras, prepared by aviation consultancy Airbiz, yesterday.

Two potential 2.2-kilometre runway alignments were proposed. Either would enable the airport to serve domestic routes and short-haul international destinations like Australia and parts of the Pacific, project director Michael Singleton said.

Wide-body jets would also be able to use the selected runway, despite the assessment showing they typically needed a runway of between 2.3km and 3km long.

Wide-body jets are those with two aisles and three sections of seating across. They cannot land at nearby Queenstown Airport, where the runway is 1.9km.

The assessment says a longer runway may be possible at the Central Otago site, but more analysis was needed.

‘‘In general, a longer runway creates more opportunity for the region it serves because it enables businesses and people to connect with more destinations,’’ Singleton said.

‘‘Our job is to think long-term and identify what opportunities this site could deliver well into the future.’’

The findings were encouraging, but were not final, he said.

In July last year, Christchurch Airport announced it had spent $45 million purchasing land near Tarras with a view to building an airport with international flight capacity just an hour’s drive away from Queenstown Airport.

The airport is 75 per cent owned by the Christchurch City Council.

Sustainable Tarras chairman Chris Goddard said the report contained no surprises for the group.

Tarras residents had identified the two possibilities for the likely placement of the runway soon after the project was announced, he said.

The northern runway would run adjacent to several vineyards and finish 20km from the end of the Wa¯ naka Airport runway, while the flight path for the alternative runway would be near Cromwell.

The report did not address the massive carbon footprint of construction of the airport in the rural setting, Goddard said.

There were already international airports in Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin and Invercargill.

‘‘The mid to lower South Island has six per cent of the population . . . why do we need another one?’’ he said.

Singleton said the preliminary assessment was a small step forward for the project.

It had given the company the confidence to undertake the next stage of more detailed analysis, he said.

The potential runway alignments include one aligning to the Lindis Valley and Lake Dunstan, and the other to the Hawea Valley and Lake Dunstan.

The assessment found local weather conditions were suitable for an airport.

Fog was present on between six per cent and 10 per cent of mornings, but visibility was ‘‘generally good’’, it said.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research had been engaged to provide historical meteorological data over a 10-year period as there was no weather station on the site. A station was being developed by MetService.

Noise impacts were yet to be analysed in detail, but the assessment contains some illustrations of noise using the suggested alignments.

‘‘While the lighter population of the area may lower the overall impact, we are committed to identifying and finding solutions,’’ Singleton said.

The proposed airport has been touted as a ‘‘world-class sustainable airport’’.

Its flat topography – and the ability to design flight paths, maximise operational efficiencies and provide infrastructure for electric planes – would contribute.

The report estimates planning will continue until 2023, approvals for the airport will be sought between 2024 and 2026, and construction will be completed by 2029.