Ski season receives an airlift

A new precision navigation system on Qantas planes should mean more Australian tourists can enjoy the New Zealand ski season.

Qantas is the first airline outside North America to introduce RNP (required navigation performance).

Mountains, weather and lack of advanced ground navigation equipment mean Queenstown is the most difficult airport of the Qantas network, so it has been picked as the first port where RNP will be used, ready for this ski season.

Alex Passerini, a Qantas 737 captain and one of the team who helped introduce the new system for the airline, said Queenstown was an obvious place to start.

"It is the most technically challenging port - a lot has to do with the mountainous terrain in the area, it also has to do with the fact that there's no radar down there. There's also a lot of traffic."

Big airports have sophisticated instrument landing systems that guide aircraft right down on to the runway. Smaller airports like Queenstown do not have such systems, which means more constraints on pilots.

As it is introduced into more planes, smaller airports will be able to enjoy better air services without spending millions on advanced air traffic control and ground-based guidance systems.

The new Qantas system puts such sophisticated systems in the plane, which use satellite-based global positioning system inputs to guide the plane within very accurate flightpaths.

Having the plane essentially fly itself around this track reduces the workload for the pilots and "provides a clear path in and out" of the airport. If, for instance, a landing needed to be aborted near the runway, the system would help pilots find their way out safely, without having to rely on visual flying.

Since developing the system, Qantas pilots can fly their Boeing 737-800 aircraft into Queenstown during rough weather that would close the runway to other planes.

The chief executive of Destination Queenstown, David Kennedy, said anything that improved air services was great for the tourist industry.

"Direct flights from Australia during the ski season are key to the success of our entire winter season," he said. "During winter the Australian market is by far the biggest market in Queenstown."

Air New Zealand flies between Queenstown and Sydney twice a week, year-round, but puts on additional flights from Brisbane and Melbourne during the ski season.

Its new fleet A320 aircraft are suitable for RNP flying and are being put through a certification process. Its fleet of 737-300 planes are being fitted with the equipment needed to also use RNP navigation.