The Kaitāia Community Airport group believes it has what it takes to successfully run Kaitāia Airport.
The Kaitāia Community Airport group believes it has what it takes to successfully run Kaitāia Airport.
An independent group of Te Hiku locals say they have what it takes to run the country’s northernmost airport.
The Kaitāia Community Airport (KCA) group is a collective of local iwi, community and business members throwing their hat in the ring to manage Kaitāia Airport.
KCA chairman and international aviation consultant Mike Crymble said the group had been informally running for years in response to an apparent lack of investment and development of Kaitāia Airport.
He said the group had not intended to go public with their proposal but did so following media reports the airport might close if the Far North District Council (FNDC) did not renew its lease.
“The Kaitāia Community Airport team would like the opportunity to put our case for the continued operation of the airport,” Crymble said.
“We, along with the vast majority of the community, do not want to lose - under any circumstances - this vital link to the rest of the country.
“The people certainly would expect, at the very least, to have been consulted on the situation before the council made this shocking announcement.”
Crymble, who runs Mandeville Airport near Gore in the lower South Island, said there should be an open tender for the airport lease, currently held by the airfield management organisation Far North Holdings Limited (FNHL) on behalf of the FNDC.
According to Toutū Te Whenua - Land Information New Zealand (or Linz, the legal landowners of the airport land), the FNDC was on a current month-to-month lease arrangement to manage the airport.
A longer-term lease was anticipated to be signed in the coming months, which would give the FNDC certainty to plan upgrades to the airport it deemed necessary.
Last week the Northland Age reported on how an unsettled land claim with local iwi was contributing to the hold-up of the lease renewal.
A 1 News report last Friday also revealed FNHL had issued the FNDC with notice to terminate its management of the airfield, citing safety concerns emerging through limited investment in the facility.
The date set for withdrawal was June 30, 2023.
Crymble claimed the council’s “safety concerns” were unfounded and the airport was “perfectly safe”.
He said while he understood politics surrounding Māori land claims was difficult, it was no excuse to close the facility.
“The council claim without this investment money, the airport is not fit for purpose,” Crymble said.
“I stake my 50-year professional reputation as an aviation professional that this is not true.
“There is absolutely no reason why the airport cannot remain open while political negotiations continue.”
Far North Kahika (Mayor) Moko Tepania said the council had been trying for many years to secure a lease renewal and was actively seeking to keep Kaitāia Airport open.
“The message I want to send is that the council and elected members are working hard to ensure this community asset remains,” Tepania said.
“We will follow proper processes to enable that and are just waiting for central government to secure that for us.”
On Crymble’s claims Kaitāia Airport was safe to operate, Tepania said he could only go off the experts’ advice.
Far North Kahika (Mayor) Moko Tepania said the council had been working hard to ensure the Kaitāia Airport remained open.
“The council is not an airport operator, but FNHL which operates the Kaitāia Airport on our behalf is,” he said.
“I can only go by the technical experts in this space, but what I can say is the funding is not just for the runway, there are other elements to the airport that need upgrading, so it’s a whole system approach.
“We had funding earmarked for this in our previous long-term plan, but irrespective of the safety details, we need to have a lease in place for the planning and operation of the airport.”
Today there are 51 airports/airfields owned or run by the Government or local government authorities, with 22 owned by private organisations.
Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan said airport ownership was “pretty complex”, but that the Government was always seeking to make ongoing improvements in the area.
Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan said matters pertaining to airport management were "pretty complex".
Land Information Minister Damien O’Connor agreed the airport was a vital community resource and understood the community was keen for certainty.
O’Connor said Toitū Te Whenua Linz was working hard with the other parties to provide that.
“This is a complex situation requiring consultation with all parties with an interest in the site. These sorts of discussions take time,” he said.
“As the property may, in future, be used as Treaty settlement redress, the new lease will include a termination clause to ensure the lease can be ended early if the property is returned to Māori ownership.
“That will also provide the new owners the opportunity to negotiate their own lease terms for the continued operation of the airport.”
Land Information Minister Damien O'Connor said the Government was working to secure a lease for the airport in the coming months.
O’Connor added any transfer of the property would be conditional on it remaining an airport.
He quickly shut down any possibility of the lease going to a private company.
“The lease arrangement is not subject to an open tender process,” O’Connor said.
“Toitū Te Whenua Linz has a relationship and a commitment to work with the Far North District Council and iwi.”
