Whanganui Airport: Work on $6.7m parallel taxiway could get under way in July

The rising cost of bitumen forced the council to put all its funding into resealing the airport's runway. Photo / Bevan Conley

Work on a new parallel taxiway at Whanganui Airport could soon get under way but central government needs to come to the party first.

Whanganui District Council property manager Sarah O’Hagan said the project had been part of the council’s last long-term plan process along with the resealing of the airport’s runway.

The resealing cost $6 million - more than originally planned.

“We got the Ministry of Transport - the other partner in the airport - to come up with their half of the contribution and then we went to tender for both the jobs,” O’Hagan said.

“Because of the rising price of bitumen and the rising price of everything, we only had enough funding to do the reseal.

“We still have a live business case for the taxiway with the ministry and we are making provisions in the draft long-term plan because we have to come up with the other half of the capital.”

It is set to cost $6.7m - split between the two parties - over the next two financial years.

The council’s contribution would be debt-funded.

Taxiways are the pathways aircraft use between hangars, terminals, runways and other facilities.

A report from airport chief executive Phil McBride said the existing configuration of grass and sealed taxiways was no longer suitable for the increased level of aircraft activity in Whanganui.

It created inefficient operations due to aircraft needing to backtrack on the active runway and increased the likelihood of a catastrophic aircraft incident occurring.

The “big caveat” in the process was securing ministry money to supplement council funding, O’Hagan said.

“My conversations with officials have been ‘You’ve approved that business case once, it just so happens that the money didn’t go far enough’.

“We’re hopeful that as soon as officials are in the ministers’ offices in Wellington, that will be a straightforward process. But, we need to wait and see.”

She said council would be ready to go on July 1.

“Obviously, we’ll need to plan around weather events but we’ll be ready.”

McBride’s report said the arrival of the New Zealand International Commercial Pilot Academy (NZICPA) had resulted in a significant increase in the wear-and-tear on grass taxiways.

That could lead to aircraft damage and taxiway closures, negatively impacting the academy’s operations.

“There has also been an associated increase in the number of light aircraft using the apron, increasing the risks to passengers boarding commercial aircraft.”

The taxiway would allow for the development of land at the airport that wasn’t currently accessible to aircraft, with leases of land and/or hangars being key revenue streams, the report said.

“Increased revenue will reduce the level of ratepayer funding needed to support airport operations.

“Improved aircraft access will enable new aviation-related businesses to move to Whanganui Airport with associated wider economic benefits to the region.”

McBride’s report said the proposed layout largely followed the lines of current grass taxiways and would be contained within existing airport boundaries, apart from a small area of Whanganui Port Limited Partnership land immediately adjacent to the northeastern corner of the airport.

The taxiway project is up for consideration in the council’s next long-term plan, which comes into effect on July 1.

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.