Airport name change date to be set

The timing of Hawke's Bay Airport's name-change to Ahuriri Airport Hawke's Bay could coincide with the completion of a $5 million terminal upgrade late next year.

But the airport company said yesterday its board was keeping an open mind on exactly when the name would change.

The decision to add Ahuriri to the airport's name followed a request from local treaty claimant group Mana Ahuriri Incorporated and was supported by company's shareholders the Crown, Napier City Council and Hastings District Council.

Airport chief executive Nick Story said the company had enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Mana Ahuriri, which had put the suggestion to its board and shareholders late last year.

"The airport company's directors have suggested the name change could occur at the same time as the terminal development project is completed, however they have an open mind on the timing of the name change," he said.

Members of the Mana Ahuriri board could not be reached for comment yesterday.

After Hawke's Bay Today revealed the pending name yesterday, the move drew criticism from readers online but Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said he thought the change was "a neat idea" and Napier City Council had endorsed it unanimously after a presentation from Mana Ahuriri.

"I think it's an entirely appropriate name.

"The district is Ahuriri.

"The original Maori name for Napier was Ahuriri and, the fact is, when people are flying to Napier they are going to fly into Ahuriri Airport in exactly the same way as when you fly into New York you fly into JFK Airport," he said.

"To me it's just an acknowledgement of the historic background to the area."

Hastings District Councillor Simon Nixon said he believed the name change needed to be discussed with Air New Zealand because it could create confusion among passengers over where they were flying to.

"I like the name Ahuriri but I'm just not sure that calling the airport Ahuriri is that wise when for the people flying here it's either Napier Airport or Hawke's Bay Airport," he said.

Mr Story said the name change would not alter the airport's identification codes used by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

"The respective codes of NPE (IATA) and NZNR (ICAO) will be retained and will not be affected by the name change," he said.