Airport Overview
Capacity exists to immediately establish parking, hangerage, hard standing and taxiways for a greater capacity, together with offices, lecture facilities and maintenance buildings if and as required. Indeed, the land immediately available and not requiring any preparation totals over 24,000 square metres while a further 20,000 square metres requiring some earth works can be also made available.
Resealing of the main runway and apron was completed in March 2007 and the refurbishment of the passenger terminal was completed in October 2007.
Maintaining a Civil Aviation Part 139 approval, the airport is well located, well maintained and well set out. It consists of one sealed runway and three grass runways, a sealed apron, a large grassed apron/aircraft park, fuel services, a passenger terminal and private maintenance facilities and hangers.
Favourable local weather and the airport’s proximity to a wide range of aviation services and facilities makes Whanganui well suited to the training of pilots.
Within 90 nautical miles of Whanganui there are over 15 airports ranging from international to private, certificated and non-certificated, providing pilots with a wide range of airspace transition and aircraft control challenges.
The local flying training area offers low flying areas and terrain ranging from flat coastal plains and ocean through to rugged and steep back country, providing a wide range of opportunities for trainee pilots to experience high country flying and remote country navigation.
Operations from the airport include scheduled airlines, airline charter and air ambulance, fixed and rotary wing agricultural flying, military flying training and operations, and both fixed wing and rotary wing training.
To read more of the airport's history, click here.