Air traffic control services to be withdrawn from Hawke's Bay Airport

Airways air traffic control services to be withdrawn from the tower at Hawke's Bay Airport. Photo / File

Airways NZ's air traffic control services are to be withdrawn from its tower at Hawke's Bay Airport.

The airport, which is part way through a terminal expansion, is one of seven airports affected by the Airways NZ decision on Tuesday.

Towers at Gisborne, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Invercargill airports will also be withdrawn, while the company will also cease providing airfield flight information services at Kapiti Coast Airport and Milford Sound Piopiotahi Aerodrome.

Passenger safety and airline operations will not be affected by the decision to withdraw the services, according to Airways CEO Graeme Sumner.

"Over the past month Airways has worked alongside our staff and their union, the airports concerned and Air New Zealand to determine how we can best respond to the current crisis while also ensuring we are able to help drive the aviation sector's recovery and future growth," he said.

"Today's decision is a hard one and upsetting for affected workers and their families. Telling people who have served us and our industry so well that the services they provide are no longer viable is very difficult."

Sumner added: "It is unfortunate that our people were not given the opportunity to vote on this proposal – an action that is in stark contrast to compromises made by their pilot colleagues."

The changes could signal the loss of seven staff at Hawke's Bay Airport and up to 38 positions across NZ.

Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule said the closure is a "complete disappointment" and goes against the Government's commitment to keep people employed.

"I understand that volume and revenue stream are down, but they've used this opportunity to make seven people redundant in Hawke's Bay," he said.

"This is completely in the face of what the Government is trying to do, which is keep people in jobs."

Yule added: "When we're doing everything we can to keep people in jobs, I find it hard to believe this has been allowed to happen."

A collaborative effort by Airways, the affected airports, Civil Aviation Authority, a general aviation representative and Air New Zealand will attempt to identify when the current services will be withdrawn and what type of service, if any, may replace them.

This process is expected to take around six months.

Summer said the disruption caused by the pandemic has been "unprecedented".

"Airways must address the immediate challenges of the pandemic-induced crisis, and to help put the industry on a more sustainable footing," he said.

"Maintaining our previous services would have imposed an unjustifiable and unsustainable cost on airline operators without any corresponding benefits in passenger safety or regional connectivity."