Upgrade for resort airport

Ski-season chaos at Queenstown Airport should ease after a $30 million upgrade unveiled yesterday. Queenstown Airport Corporation heads said they hoped the new design would set the foundation for future expansion.

Nearly 2 million passengers were expected to pass through each year by 2023.

Airport director Bill Walker said the existing four-year-old building would be redesigned by the architects Craig Craig Moller, who worked on the Wellington and Dunedin airport upgrades.

"We're virtually tearing the thing down," he said.