Airport flying high on boom and build
New routes and more visitors are some of the goals put forward for Nelson Airport as record profits and new infrastructure emerges.
Having welcomed its one millionth passenger for the 12 months to June, Nelson Airport has recorded a strong financial result in its annual report.
As well as record passenger numbers, highlights of the report included revenue of $9.1 million and a net profit after tax of $3.1 million.
This represented a growth of 71 per cent on earnings as well as a 34 per cent passenger increase on two years ago.
The introduction of new routes and extra flights from the airlines have delivered a strong operating environment towards the airport’s associated commercial activities.
Board chairman Paul Steere said the results were testament to the hard work by the team led by chief executive Rob Evans.
‘‘We are investing in our infrastructure and the terminal rebuild will make sure our passengers continue to experience the best regional airport in New Zealand.’’
‘‘We certainly appreciate the community’s continued support and patience through the on-going rebuild process.’’
Airport chief executive Rob Evans said the combination of good financial results and forecasted tourism growth put Nelson in a good position to increase its standing as a prime passenger destination.
‘‘We’ve had a really good year in terms of business performance for the second year in a row now and to keep doing that we need to get this infrastructure in place and upgraded,’’ he said.
‘‘What what we’re doing now is really important not only for dealing with current demand and constraint but also building a bit of capacity for the future.’’
Construction works are now under way on the two-year, $32 million project to build a new terminal and car parking set up, after contracts were let in May 2017.
Airways was also well on the way with its development of a new control tower.
Air New Zealand Regional Maintenance expanded its Nelson operations, providing engineering services for overseas airlines adding Virgin Australia to the existing Air Cale´donie ATR fleet.
A three-year collaboration agreement between Nelson Airport and the Nelson Regional Development Agency on marketing services pointed to possible growth for the airport and the region in the years ahead. Nelson Airport also harnessed close working partnerships with economic development agencies and tourism bodies, linked airports and smaller regional carriers to fulfil growth aspirations.
‘‘We like to keep working in that space to help NRDA in terms of the wider economic development story,’’ Evans said.
Nelson was also working with other national airports including destinations not yet on Nelson’s direct service network.
Evans met Dunedin Airport representatives at the NZ Airports Association conference in Wellington this week to discuss the potential for future connections.
Regarding the cost of airfares, Evans said each airline would have their own strategy to make a Nelson connection feasible.
‘‘The challenge is finding an airline that would have that equipment and be interested in flying that route – we know the demand is there and Kiwi Regional did it for a short time when they were around,’’ he said.
‘‘So it’s just working at both ends of that route – Dunedin’s supporting it, we support it, we put together a business case and talk to the airlines about that opportunity. Obviously finding the right partner for that is the challenge but we’re keen to do that.’’ Buried on Belgian soil, his name is etched forever in the hallowed halls of his alma mater.
Now, a century after giving the ultimate sacrifice in World War I, a fallen old boy of Nelson College with no known relatives will be honoured by his surrogate next of kin.
Iain Graham, of the Nelson College Old Boys’ Association, flew to Europe this week to represent Nelson College at a Passchendaele remembrance event in memory of fallen Nelson College old boy Donovan Oldham Hill.
A member of the 3 New Zealand Rifle Brigade 3 Battalion D Company, Hill is listed as the son of William and Jessie Hill of 103 Nile St. East.
He left Wellington on February 5 1916, bound for Suez, Egypt.
He was killed in action on 24 November 1917, aged 21, and is buried at Buttes New British Cemetery at Polygon Wood in Belgium.
Graham offered to attend the 100 year commemorations of the battle as it coincided with a month long trip to Europe with Londonbased daughter Emma and son James, also an old boy of the school.
‘‘We were going to be in Amsterdam at one stage so we’d only be one border across, it just seemed a logical reason to tie it in,’’ Graham said.
Finding service records for Hill had proved easier than locating his descendants, and so the school had chosen to honour his memory at the Wood of Peace Project on October 12.
The family will attend the event where a tree has been planted for each fallen soldier with a known grave at the two British cemeteries at Polygon Wood.
Graham will hang Hill’s name tag on a selected tree.
A second identical name tag will be taken home by Iain and kept in the Nelson College Scriptorium.
Nelson College Headmaster Gary O’Shea said the school was pleased to act as next of kin for Hill.
‘‘That connection [is important] to recognise service in any field whenever we can, not just war, so we’re really lucky that we can represent in this way.’’
Nelson College lost 126 old boys during the Great War’s four-year period, with 41 of those killed still in their teens.
At the time, the school had a roll of around 240.
A memorial on the school’s main stairwell pays tribute to those who died in the Great War, with the names of the fallen commemorated during school assemblies since 2015.
O’Shea said the purpose was not to glorify war, but remember the sacrifice given by those who, in some cases, were the same age as the students when they enlisted.
The school had made previous efforts to visit old boys’ graves on overseas trips, including Gallipoli and a visit to the River Kwai during a rugby sevens tournament in Thailand.
While Graham had not been to Passchendaele previously, he had visited war graves at Cassino, Italy where his father had fought during World War 2.
‘‘I understand a lot about the history of war and as much as sons of returning soldiers get told – Cassino was a pretty moving experience ... when you get there, you can imagine the adjectives when you see what these guys went through.’’
‘‘It’s just chilling – although not so much a cold feeling but just eerie.’’
The first battle of Passchendaele took place on October 12, 2017.
In terms of total lives lost in a single day, the failed attack on Bellevue Spur has been labelled the worst disaster in New Zealand history.
In the space of four-and-a-half hours, 846 New Zealanders were killed and more than 2000 were wounded.
A century on, the mud and misery of the Passchendaele battlefield has returned to green pastures and farmland.
However, Graham said the serenity of the Belgian countryside masked the horrors that soldiers like Hill would have endured.