Is Whanganui Airport at risk of closure?

Whanganui Airport

The mayor has shut down reports that Whanganui's airport may be at risk of closure if it does not receive Government funding.

Earlier this week the New Zealand Airports Association (NZAA) claimed 12 regional airports, including Whanganui, could close if the Government did not step into help.

Whanganui Mayor Hamish McDouall said he had seen the report but was not concerned by it.

"They are talking generically about regional airports and Whanganui is one of the most high functioning of the regional airports.

"I think we are well short of a crisis...in fact I think we are a bit of an exemplar to other regional airports," Mr McDouall said.

The NZAA wanted more than $30 million to help ensure the small, isolated airports remain viable.

NZAA chief executive Kevin Ward said councils were desperate to keep those airports open and they had been doing it for years, even though it was costing the ratepayers.

"It's going to be a gradual decline and once something goes, the aircraft just can't fly in anymore because it's not safe," Mr Ward said.

Mr McDouall said certainly some regional airports were struggling but Whanganui has been well supported by commercial ventures.

"You can tell Whanganui is not at risk because Airways, who look after the safety of the airports, have invested in LED lighting for Whanganui," Mr McDouall said.

Whanganui is a joint venture owned by the Whanganui District Council and the Government.

But Mr McDouall said with regular flights from Air Chathams and Air Whanganui, the ambulance service and now the commercial pilots academy, Whanganui Airport was well positioned.

"We would never turn down more funding but we have just upgraded the airport recently."

Transport Minister Simon Bridges said the situation is nowhere near as bad as the report suggests.

"I don't subscribe to some sort of, as I say, crisis scenario," he said.

"I think our regions are going well and those airports in them are also going very well."