Whanganui Airport has to get "more procedural and predictable" as it gets busier, manager Phil McBride says. Whanganui Chronicle photograph by Bevan Conley.
Whanganui Airport has to get "more procedural and predictable" as it gets busier, manager Phil McBride says. Whanganui Chronicle photograph by Bevan Conley.
Aviation enthusiast Owen Cantillon-Rice was "a man of great vision" when he began a project to restore an airport control tower doomed to demolition.
Instead of being demolished as proposed in 2004, Whanganui's airport control tower is being progressively restored by a group and its lofty aerial room is aboutto be used for air traffic control all over again.
The cab of the control tower has extensive views. Photo / Lewis Gardner
The "cab" will again house an air traffic advisory service within the next few months, airport manager Phil McBride says.
The number of landings, take-offs and missed approaches at the airport has grown from 24,000 a year in 2016 to 48,000 in 2019, mainly due to the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy (NZICPA).
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) asked for a study about the airport's capacity to handle future developments, and the consultant made three key recommendations.
The CAA now wants some form of low-level air traffic control, a parallel sealed taxiway for planes preparing for take-off and the retirement of at least one of the airport's grass runways.
Planes always take off and land into the wind, McBride said. Those waiting to take off sometimes have to taxi to their starting position on the airport's main runway, called "backtracking".
Another sealed runway parallel to it would keep those planes well away from planes that are landing, avoiding contact between the two aircraft.
Having it will maintain essential separation, especially in winter and at night when only the main runway can be used to taxi into take-off position.
The new taxiway would be wide enough to be used by all the airport's usual planes, except the Air Chathams aircraft.
McBride doesn't want to say how much it might cost, because it will be going out to tender. The Provincial Growth Fund will be asked for funding.
The airport's control tower was decommissioned in 1989, and since then planes have used a Whanganui radio frequency to warn of their approach and make sure the way is clear.
What's now proposed is to install a trained operator using the frequency to tell pilots who else is nearby. The service will be available from 8am to 6pm daily.
It has been used at South Auckland's Ardmore Airport for 20 years, and McBride is hoping Ardmore will train staff for Whanganui, check their credentials annually and provide operating procedures.
The extra cost to the airport will be met by a small increase in landing fees, he said.
The operator will be based in the upper room of the airport's control tower, which is being progressively restored by the Whanganui Airport Control Tower Restoration Group.
The Whanganui Airport Control Tower Restoration Group has completed exterior work. Whanganui Chronicle photograph by Bevan Conley.
"The agreement with the restoration group always was that if it was ever required for aviation it would return to that," McBride said.
Restoration group secretary John Henderson said the late Cantillon-Rice was "a man of great vision" in initiating the project.
People who tour the tower on special occasions will still be able to come up to the cab, and it will be a plus for them to see someone working there, Henderson said.
When the tower is back in use the airport will share some of the costs of its restoration, McBride said. The group needs about $300,000 to finish restoring the interior of its lower levels.
