Local Focus: Taupō airport developments about to take off

Taupō Airport may not be the busiest in New Zealand, but as the town continues to grow, so too do its arrivals and departures. Now, thanks to the Provincial Growth Fund, the airport will benefit from a $6 million renovation.

It's just one of a number of investments in Bay of Plenty infrastructure announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and comes after months of hard work.

"Initially, back in the day it would have been meeting demand," said Rhys Freason, Taupō Airport's general manager.

"But since the growth to the Q300 aircraft across the regional fleet, the capacity of our building terminal in particular and our apron has been exceeded now."

"Taupō Airport's seen changes in the type of aircraft that arrives - we're serviced by the 19 seater. When Air New Zealand upgraded to the 50 seater it was quite clear that the terminal actually couldn't handle the volumes coming through," said Chris Johnston, Airport Authority Taupō.

"The building had some earthquake issues, some asbestos in the roof and we looked at how we could find some money to actually future-proof the whole airport."

Taupō mayor David Trewavas is delighted to see the renovations finally come to fruition.

"[It's] wonderful news, of course we've been working on it a long time," said Trewavas.

"These things just don't happen overnight, we've had a big team - huge team - working on this application. We're in the natural centre of the North Island, connectivity is so important to the people of this region.

"To be able to have good flights in and good flights out just means so much for our key industries."

The redevelopment will see the car park, terminal and apron all expanded and upgraded, with the renovations likely to continue into the middle of next year.

Johnston says the airport would have struggled to raise the money on its own, and the PGF giving the project a much-needed financial boost.

"I think it's the wider district picture. There's been a lot of investment from PGF in tourism ventures around us - like the gondola at the mountain," said Johnston.

"They have identified that tourism in this region is a big part of what we do and the gateway is our airport.

"The apron needed expansion at some point, the car park is full to capacity and the cars are on the lawn. This whole project is pretty much a greenfield project because we have the space to actually get it right for the future."

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