Whenuapai airport plan gets boost

It is hoped that Whenuapai will have domestic flights and those from Australia and the Pacific Islands. Picture / Dean Purcell

The prospect of budget airlines sharing Whenuapai Air Base with military aircraft got a boost with three councils becoming part of an airport development company.

Previously reluctant Defence officials also have agreed to discuss joint use.

North Shore City Council and Rodney District Council voted to accept a shareholding offer in a new North West Airport Company.

The offer of a 10 per cent interest for each - promoted as "no cost and minimal risk" - was made by Waitakere City Council and its partner Infratil, which owns Wellington Airport.

Councils hope Whenuapai will have domestic flights and allow travel to and from Australia and the Pacific Islands.

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey said yesterday the councils' approval and support shown in a recent Auckland-wide poll meant Auckland now had a robust case to present to the Government, which will decide about the base becoming a second commercial airport for the region.

"All Auckland, we believe, is behind this airport.

"We have serious numbers - the councils represent 500,000 people living within 15km of Whenuapai."

He said a recent poll in the region showed that 53 per cent of people supported the idea of commercial services at Whenuapai as soon as possible, compared with 15 per cent against.

Mr Harvey said Whenuapai was under-used with just military flights and many airports had military operations alongside commercial flights.

In December 2004, the Government said there was no compelling national or strategic considerations to justify its involvement in developing a second airport for Auckland.

It turned down a proposal from Waitakere and Infratil, saying the Defence Force move from Whenuapai to Ohakea was 10 years away.

An approach by the mayors for joint military-civil use was rebuffed by the Defence Force.

But yesterday Rodney councillors were told that Defence was now offering to engage in talks.

Tim Brown of Infratil later confirmed that Defence had contacted the company a month ago.

Armed with the councils' approval, airport advocates would go back to Defence to try to "reignite" the case.

They would also seek a meeting with Defence Minister Phil Goff about the benefits of progressing joint use and suggested that Defence could save on the costs of running the air base.

Mr Goff is in Korea. A spokesman said he was unavailable for comment.

A report for the North Shore and Rodney councils by Cranleigh merchant bankers said the base could handle aircraft up to the size of a 767 with 270 passengers.

However, the main runway was in poor condition and major reconstruction would be needed.

Mr Brown said travellers would have to wait two years for Whenuapai flights because of the need to go through the Resource Management Act processes.

After that, he thought Whenuapai could operate on the same scale as Wellington Airport and would suit low-cost airlines rather than long-haul operators such as Singapore Airlines.

Mr Brown said Virgin Blue airline had said it saw major opportunities if it could use Whenuapai.

Whenuapai Airbase Action Group president Russell Stewart said the group had noise, health and safety concerns for homes in the flightpath.

The group would fight the proposal through the Ombudsman, Resource Management Act and the Environment Court.


The numbers

* $80m - Cost of upgrading airstrip and developing the base as a commercial airport.
* 1.8m - Annual passenger numbers after five years of operations.