KEY POINTS:
The ownership debate over the airport at Mangere is welcomed by the group who are pushing to get Whenuapai Air Base open for commercial flights.
Any foreign takeover of the international airport would increase the desire for the monopoly to have some competition, said Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey.
"We say to the Government: Please give us now Whenuapai."
Mr Harvey said there was a strong case and backing for the Government to allow the Air Force to share the base with civil air services and create a second airport for Auckland.
"We think the Government has worked out it's more economic for them to stay on and sell us half of it."
Mr Harvey said the debate over foreign ownership of Auckland Airport had prompted the spotlight to fall on Whenuapai as a way to keep a "foreign owner honest".
The Defence Force has resisted opening its runways to civil use, saying it does not expect to move all its operations to Ohakea until 2015 at the earliest.
Undeterred, Waitakere City Council is preparing to change its district plan to reserve the 273.6ha base for airport purposes in the future.
The council is a shareholder in NorthWest Auckland Airport Ltd with the North Shore City Council, Rodney District Council and publicly listed infrastructure investor Infratil, the majority owner of Wellington Airport.
Mr Harvey said that shareholding and military use gave certainty Whenuapai would remain in New Zealand ownership.
North Shore Mayor George Wood said there was a "strong silent majority" of North Shore residents who wanted to keep Whenuapai for an airport. Rodney Mayor John Law said global interest in Auckland International Airport showed how important airports were.
Enterprise North Shore chairman Ian Watson said a Whenuapai option was supported because of traffic congestion making it difficult to reach the airport at Mangere.
"We also feel that north of the Harbour Bridge is a tourist and event destination in its own right, so an airport would be a positive for that."
A strong advocate for commercial flights from Whenuapai, North Shore lawyer Derek Dallow, said Whenuapai could become a humbler "Kiwibank" version of Auckland International Airport, serving its local area.
