Planning NZ’s newest airport
Tiny Tarras could host international and NZ flights
Christchurch Airport boss Malcolm Johns is prepared to play the long game with a bold plan to build an international airport in the Central Otago town of Tarras.
He has about 250ha of land at Christchurch Airport yet to be developed, 80 years after it was bought.
“We’re an intergenerational investor and land for us is always the first step,” said Johns.
The 750ha airport site at Tarras — last reported population 230 and the home of Shrek the hermit sheep — has been bought from four landowners over the past nine months.
Christchurch Airport is 75 per cent owned by the city’s council and 25 per cent by the Government and it has so far spent $45 million on the Tarras project.
That may the easy bit, as opposition is sure to grow and a lengthy consenting process looms.
“We’re definitely focused on progressing the project but we’re not going to do it in a way that crashes into people’s communities — we want to take the time to talk,” said Johns, who was forced to announce the project earlier than planned when it was smoked out by the media.
There is no business case yet and no drawings of the airport, which would have a 2200m runway capable of handling widebody jets.
”We’re not going to advance final business cases until we’ve had the chance to talk to the people of Tarras and regions that surround Central Otago, Central Otago itself, iwi and gain an understanding of what the social and economic aspiration is in the next 50 years,” said Johns.
“We’re fully committed to seeing the project out but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.” A time frame of five to 15 years was realistic for the project, he said.
In the meantime, holding costs were low for the land, now grazing sheep and cattle, and if the project did not go ahead, he was confident of not losing on a property deal.
Critics have raised concerns about the area’s weather and the environmental impact of an airport.
Johns said Christchurch Airport had deep experience of operating in fog and strong northwesterlies. Building on a greenfield site also allowed new environmentally friendly technology in airport buildings.
Airlines have welcomed the proposal. Air New Zealand has long voiced concerns about congestion at Queenstown, which is about 90km from Tarras, and the need for a lower South Island alternative, which was the final spur for the Tarras proposal. Airlines would love to see competition between airports, which are usually spaced much further apart.
Johns says it would be up to the airlines to determine what sort of aircraft they would use at Tarras.
But the widebody planes that could be handled on the 2.2km runway can be more efficient than singleaisle aircraft. And a longer runway meant less steep climb rates after takeoff, using less fuel.
Johns says he hasn’t spoken to Queenstown Airport but it’s not a case of one or the other.
“Queenstown Airport is established, there is always going to be a demand for that location. In none of our modelling have we assumed that Queenstown Airport disappears.”