Ever wanted to land a 737 at Queenstown? A Qantas pilot explains how

View from the cockpit window of a Qantas Boeing 737 approaching Queenstown. Photo / Supplied

Qantas captain Justin Roberts is one of a select group of pilots licenced to land at Queenstown, and will never forget his first landing.

"While my landing was a little firmer than some customers would have liked, I remember standing at the top of the stairs saying goodbye to passengers while looking at The Remarkables towering 6000 feet above me," says Roberts of touching down at one of the country's most challenging airports.

The airline has released footage of a landing in a Boeing 737-800 at Queenstown and some simulator images of what pilots face when landing there.

The runway at Queenstown airport sits on the edge of a lake in a small valley, squeezed in between mountains reaching more than 1750m.

''To fly into Queenstown we need to follow a fairly long and convoluted approach to get us down the valleys to be able to land,'' he says.

Depending on the route, passengers can take in the sights of the ski city's mountainous skyline for up to 10 minutes as their flight coasts through the ranges surrounding Queenstown.

''It takes over the top of Coronet Peak and Crown Terrace down through the valley over the bungy bridge and the Shotover Jet before we make a series of turns and land.''

Roberts says the terrain means it's not a typical landing approach.

The airport sits at an elevation of 357m.

The terrain surrounding the airport creates its own unique weather patterns which may be great for skiers, but poses from challenges for large passenger aircraft.

Not only do pilots landing in Queenstown need to undergo specialised simulator training, but they must execute a successful approach and landing with training captains on board.

To help guide them through the winding valley, pilots also use a system called RNP (Required Navigation Performance) when flying to and from Queenstown Airport.

RNP is like GPS but instead of a simple line on a map, it's a 3D tube that winds a safe path through the mountains. It uses satellite data to maintain a set track during the approach, monitoring the aircraft's movement laterally and vertically.

Key altitude and speed information is projected on to heads up display in front of the captain.

Queenstown airport handled 2.28 million passenger arrivals and departures in the year to the end of February, 11 percent more than a year earlier. About 72 per cent were domestic travellers.