Revealed: New airport runway plans
Auckland Airport’s second strip 1km longer than first approved
Auckland Airport has revealed new plans for a second runway, which is nearly 1km longer than originally approved, will push up passenger fees and affect hundreds more houses with noise from planes.
The new runway, just short of 3km long, will also be positioned further north than the one approved 16 years ago.
To cope with the expected surge in air traffic, the airport wants to have the new northern runway open in 2028 and will now go through another round of local hearings to have new plans approved.
It has just sent out letters to 504 additional affected home owners, rural properties and one school, Aorere College. The properties are mainly in Mangere, Flat Bush and Otara, and next week the company will start a round of public meetings to outline its plans.
Close to 3000 properties are already directly affected by the existing southern runway and the new one will result in new flight paths over the rest of the city.
Those directly affected will be offered between $7000 and $8000 noise mitigation per house including insulation and heat pumps allowing them to have windows closed during summer.
The new runway has been on the drawing board for decades and the final proposal will need a tunnel beneath it for road traffic on George Bolt Memorial Drive. The cut-andcover tunnel will also provide space for a train track to reach the airport terminal that will link domestic and international operations as part of the “Airport of the Future” plan.
Passenger charges will also increase from 2021 to pay for the new runway work. A runway charge of $1.29 (excluding GST) per passenger will be imposed from the start of the 2021 financial year once construction of the second runway is confirmed.
The airport company hopes that work on the new 2983m runway can start next year to meet the 2028 deadline, when the existing southern runway will be at capacity and new flights may have to be turned away.
But there is likely to be opposition to the impact of the new plans. The Auckland Airport Noise Consultation Group will meet the airport next week, and lobby group Plane Truth has been concerned about the growing number of aircraft movements and the impact on Auckland residents. Although the airport says there will be an overnight curfew on the new runway from the east over Papatoetoe, opponents have said noise at any time of the day was disruptive. The new runway will increase capacity to cope with an expected 40 million people a year through the airport by 2044 — more than double the number of passengers now. It will also provide an alternative if the existing southern runway is closed by a plane crash or other emergency.
For infrastructure work until 2022, the company has allotted $1.8 billion and has just proposed a new round of aeronautical charges for airlines and passengers to pay for it.
Allocated spending on the new runway during the next five years is $202 million to cover the costs of planning development and civil works. This will increase markedly through the next decade.
When the original proposal was approved in 2000, the airport expected the runway to be used for domestic aircraft but planning manager Kellie Roland said that has been “flipped on its head” in its new plan.
The new runway — which has the support of airlines — would now be able to handle nearly all long-haul aircraft except fully laden A380 superjumbos heading to the Middle East, which will continue using the existing southern runway.
Roland said the runway was moved further north by 72m to allow for code F aircraft such as A380s to use it.
To meet planning requirements, the airport has assessed a number of options for the second runway, including reclaiming land in Manukau Harbour next to the existing one.
This was ruled out on cost and environmental grounds.
The new plan would not require any reclamation but would run close to the environmentally sensitive upper reaches of the Manukau Harbour, be in an archaeologically sensitive area and could present engineering challenges to avoid moving Watercare’s pipes at the eastern end of it.
During preliminary work almost 10 years ago — which was later stalled as air traffic slowed — the remains of 88 koiwi or remains of Maori ancestors were unearthed.
This sparked anger among Maori, but Roland says 17 iwi had been consulted and updated on the airport’s plans. The company now has agreed protocols in place in the event of finding koiwi.