Airport marks millionth arrival
Abby Nalder was stunned when she walked through the terminal door at Nelson Airport.
The whole terminal started clapping for her and she was told she was the millionth passenger to come through the airport in the past 12 months.
To mark the milestone Abby was presented with a return ticket for two to Wellington from Air New Zealand as well as flowers and a basket full of Nelson goodies.
A Year 11 Golden Bay High School student, 15-year-old Abby was returning to Nelson from a week in Auckland visiting family.
She said it was all ‘‘a bit overwhelming’’ and she was very surprised at being picked as the lucky millionth passenger.
Airport chief executive Rob Evans said it wa a ’’huge achievement for a regional airport to have that volume of people coming and going.
‘‘It makes us the fifth busiest airport, busier than Dunedin and other regional airports in New Zealand.’’
Evans said the increase in air passengers coming through Nelson showed ‘‘how much people love travelling here’’.
They knew the millionth passenger was due to disembark yesterday because they track passenger numbers each month.
The milestone came at a busy time for the airport.
Work on its $32 million redevelopment has started and is due to be completed in 18 months to cope with the expected rise in passenger arrivals.
Evans said they were excited that future travellers would experience a new ‘‘state of the art Nelson Airport Terminal.’’
In the previous 12 months 880,000 people came through the airport, and its aim was to increase that number to 1.1 million in the next 12 months.
‘‘It depends on weather and flights but we have a pretty detailed forecast of where we want to be.’’
Jetstar head of New Zealand Daniel Banens said Jetstar had been flying to Nelson for over 18 months and it had consistently been one of the airline’s most popular domestic destinations.
Air New Zealand regional affairs man- ager Ian Collier said it was ‘‘brilliant to see Nelson Airport doing so well’’.
‘‘It’s a reflection of the overall success of the Nelson region.
‘‘Nelson is Air New Zealand’s busiest regional port and one of our largest cargo hubs outside of Auckland.
‘‘On average we operate almost 700 flights to and from Nelson each week and we’ve added 7 per cent additional seats in the past 12 months,’’ Collier said.
Nelson Regional Development Agency chief executive Mark Rawson said Nelson Airport was an ‘‘extraordinarily important asset’’ to the Nelson Tasman region and the airport played a vital role in ensuring the future economic growth of many sectors of the economy.
Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce chief executive Grant Kerr said the milestone was ‘‘a significant achievement’’ for the region and the airport.
‘‘Strong business confidence coupled with the tourism sector performance is driving growth, therefore having an airport that can support the growth is crucial.’’
Air New Zealand, Jetstar, Sounds Air, Origin Air, Air 2 There and Golden Bay Air fly out of Nelson Airport.