Upgrade may still come up short

A $17 million upgrade of Masterton airport’s runway may not be enough to get an airline running regular flights in and out of Wairarapa.

Masterton District Council started work on improving the airport’s runway yesterday but it would need a favourable safety assessment before an interested operator could fly its 34-seat aircraft from the improved strip.

Chathams Air said it was interested in starting a service from Masterton using its Saab 340 twin-engine turboprop aircraft.

Because of the runway’s limited length and available run-off area, the airfield would need a special permission to allow the aircraft to operate.

Council chief executive Kym Fell said they were about to start on the certification process, which would require analysis by an independent assessor to judge whether it was safe for the Saabs.

“There are a lot of hurdles we have to get across which relate to how short the runway is. A significant amount of work has to go into a safety management plan.”

Normally the runway would have a 240-metre RESA (Runway End Safety Area), but not less than 90m. “That might be a challenge for us, because we don’t really have 90m,” Fell said.

They would look at other solutions to mitigate safety concerns to satisfy the Civil

Aviation Authority. The runway was being widened and resealed, as well as improving its infrastructure to support development on the airfield such as a new terminal.

In 2020, the Government promised $10m to the project from Crown Infrastructure Funding, previously the Provincial Growth Fund. The remaining $7m would be paid for by the council.

“It’s quite an expensive piece of work but it has to be done so that we can apply for a Civil Aviation Part 139 certification,” Fell said. “By getting that certification, it essentially allows a scheduled flight to be able to operate in and out of Masterton.” Work was to be completed by mid-May. A previous plan included buying land on the other side of road from the runway’s northern end, but the council decided it was too expensive at this stage. “That’s off the table simply because of affordability.”

This would have allowed the runway to be extended and more easily accommodate larger aircraft.

Fell was the chief executive of Whanganui District Council when it helped Air Chathams start a service out of that city.

Air Chathams chief operating officer Duane Emeny said they had “high interest” in starting a Masterton service but he acknowledged there were still many details to work through.

He said the Saab 340s currently serving Kāpiti, Whanganui, Whakatane and the Chatham Islands would be its aircraft of choice for Wairarapa.