Flights at Tauranga airport: 10-year low

Tauranga Airport.

Flights in and out of Tauranga Airport have hit a 10-year low following the collapse of a pilot training school and Air New Zealand phasing out its small aircraft.

The number of aircraft movements dropped by 11,350 in one year - a reduction of 16 per cent and the worst figures since at least 2005.

Year on year figures indicating how busy the skies were above Tauranga Airport were disclosed to a meeting of the city council yesterday.

Scheduled commercial aircraft movements dropped by 600 (7 per cent) in 2014 compared to the previous year while take-offs and landings by general aviation light aircraft fell 17 per cent or nearly 10,750 movements.

Airport manager Ray Dumble told the Bay of Plenty Times that pilot training company Helipro went into receivership and finally wound up before Christmas. He said the business was hit by Government changes to funding for pilot training and difficulties attracting overseas students.

Mr Dumble said pilot training racked up a lot of movements for the airport because each runway touch and go counted as two movements.

The receivership has left the Tauranga Aero Club as the city's only training provider for students and professional pilots. Solo Wings trains microlite pilots.

The other factor in the decline was the phasing out of Air New Zealand's 19-seat Beechcraft services and replacement with the 50-seat Q300 aircraft and 68-seat ATRs.

Mr Dumble said the larger aircraft were boosting passengers using the airport.

A new service had just commenced in which an ATR was coming in from Christchurch on Saturday afternoon and returning to Christchurch on Sunday morning. Mr Dumble said they were a little bit behind budget but were expecting to have made up the shortfall by the end of the financial year.