New flight restrictions for Whangarei Airport are leading to passengers being kicked off flights in wet weather so planes can land on the runway.
The situation - which has been in place since the start of June - resulted in 10 people being dumped from a flight from Auckland last Thursday and taken by van to Whangarei while their luggage went on the plane. Four of the 10 spoken to by the Northern Advocate were furious they had been removed from the flight and asked why Air New Zealand - which runs Eagle Air flights at the airport - could not have said when they bought their tickets that there was a real risk of them having to go by road if it rained.
Whangarei Age Concern president Beryl Wilkinson said she had been made to take a bus from Auckland instead of flying three times in the past two weeks, on one occasion not getting back until well after midnight.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued an instruction that from June 1 Eagle Air's Beech 1900 aircraft would have to approach the airport runway at a height of 50 feet, up from the 35-foot restriction that had been used at the airport for many years. Beech aircraft now have to land further down the runway, so when it's wet, or there is no headwind, the planes need to have a lighter landing weight so they can stop in time. The CAA said the action had been taken as an interim measure while an updated risk assessment was undertaken at Whangarei Airport. While it was not a safety issue, no date was set for ending the restriction.
Whangarei District Council chief executive officer Mark Simpson said rumours that the runway was too short were wrong. It was lengthened and resurfaced four years ago to take larger Bombardier Q300 planes which could take 50 passengers, had different landing characteristics and could use the airport. He said Air NZ was talking to CAA to see if the height restrictions could be changed.