Dunedin Airport , officially Dunedin International Airport, also known as Momona Airport, is an international airport in the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand, serving

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

city and the

and

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

regions. Dunedin Airport is one of two international airports in Otago, the other being Queenstown International Airport. It is located adjacent to the village of

Momona Momona is a small town on the Taieri Plain in New Zealand's South Island. Momona School was established in 1899 and closed in 2004. The Henley Co-operative Dairy Company, established in nearby Henley, moved their cheese factory here, and was ...

on the

Taieri Plains The Taieri Plain (also referred to in the plural as the Taieri Plains) is an area of fertile agricultural land to the southwest of Dunedin, in Otago, New Zealand. The plain covers an area of some 300 square kilometres, with a maximum extent of 3 ...

approximately 22 kilometres south west of Dunedin CBD. It is the fifth busiest airport in New Zealand by passengers. It has a single paved runway rated for aircraft up to the

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...

, with ILS in both directions. It has one terminal building with five gates, two with airbridges; and also customs facilities and other amenities. Mainland Air, a flight school and charter service, operates from a hangar next to the terminal building. The

Dunedin City Council The Dunedin City Council ( mi, Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Ōtepoti) is the local government authority for Dunedin in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Dunedin. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Dunedin is Jules ...

and the Crown each own 50 percent of Dunedin International Airport Limited, a

publicly unlisted company An unlisted public company is a public company that is not listed on any stock exchange. Though the criteria vary somewhat between jurisdictions, a public company is a company that is registered as such and generally has a minimum share capital an ...

which operates the utility.

History

The old Taieri airfield was not economic to expand to cater for the growth in air travel expected in the future. Construction of the present airport was completed in 1962, and its primary use was to cater for passengers of short haul aircraft. NZNAC started Fokker Friendship services immediately upon opening with Vickers Viscount services starting in December 1962. A large new hangar was completed in 1963. Mount Cook Airlines operated to Dunedin from March 1966 to July 1991. NAC started Boeing 737 services to Dunedin in December 1968. Automatic sliding doors were provided in the terminal in 1969 with a Rothmans clock being installed in the terminal in 1971 and the toilets being expanded that same year. A new mezzanine floor and aircraft viewing deck were installed in 1974. The airport was the scene of a hostage crisis on 19 December 1979 when two borstal escapees held a police officer in the control tower. The airport was closed due to flooding from June to July 1980.

Ansett New Zealand Ansett New Zealand was an airline serving the New Zealand domestic market between 1987 and 2001. It was a subsidiary of Ansett Transport Industries. In order to comply with regulatory requirements relating to the acquisition of Ansett Tran ...

began Boeing 737 (later replaced by BAe 146 aircraft) in December 1988 with airline lounges and airbridges being added in 1988. Extension of the runway to 1,900 metres was completed in May 1993. The first international flight, a

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

Boeing 737-300 touched down in Dunedin in July 1994.

Kiwi Travel International Airlines Kiwi Travel International Airlines was a New Zealand based airline which pioneered discount flights between secondary airports in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-1990s. The airline was established by Ewan Wilson and several associates. ...

started regular transtasman flights in August 1995 followed by

Freedom Air Freedom Air (legally ''Freedom Air International'') was a New Zealand low-cost airline which operated since 8 December 1995 to March 2008. It was part of the Air New Zealand Group which ran scheduled passenger services from New Zealand to Aust ...

in December of the same year. Mount Cook Airlines began ATR-72 services to Dunedin in November 1995. Kiwi Air collapsed in September 1996. Ansett New Zealand became Qantas New Zealand in September 2000 and collapsed in April 2001, leaving Origin Pacific to step in for a time. In about 2005, the check-in space was enlarged and a new international arrival area was added. The present terminal building was opened in October 2005. Freedom Air was absorbed into Air New Zealand at the end of March 2008. Virgin Australia began flying to Dunedin in July 2008, followed by Jetstar in July 2011. This airport is the third busiest and largest in the

of New Zealand, after

Christchurch International Airport Christchurch Airport is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, in the suburb of Harewood. Christchurch (Harewood) Airport officially opened on 18 May 1940 and became New Zea ...

and

Queenstown Airport Queenstown Airport is located in Frankton, Otago, New Zealand, and serves the resort town of Queenstown. The airport is from the Queenstown CBD. The airport handled 2.25 million passengers as of 2018 making it the fourth busiest airport ...

. Air New Zealand used to fly to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney until it divested responsibility to Virgin in 2010. Virgin ceased flights to Melbourne and Sydney in 2014, and has withdrawn from the 4 weekly (VA120/123) Brisbane route since March 2020. At the moment the airport has no international services. The airport's name was changed from Dunedin International Airport to Dunedin Airport in 2015.

Infrastructure and services

Traffic and statistics

In 1963, a total of 100,000 passengers passed through the airport. It received its first international flight in 1994, and in 1995, there was a total of 520,000 passengers. This figure declined to 481,000 in 2000 with a total of 19,000 aircraft movements. It was predicted that by 2015 aircraft movements would exceed 38,000 with a projected 1,000,000 passengers. For the 2009 financial year passengers numbered 770,206. In 2018, the airport announced that passenger numbers had reached 1,035,645 per year.

Air New Zealand Koru Club

Lounge Lounge may refer to: Architecture * Lounge, the living room of a dwelling * Lounge, a public waiting area in a hotel's lobby * Lounge, a style of commercial alcohol- bar * Airport lounge, or train lounge (e.g., AMTRAK's Acela Lounge), a premium ...

is available for Club members and Air NZ Gold/Gold Elite and Star Alliance Gold Frequent Flyers.

Runway

In 2009, Dunedin International Airport Limited announced it had the land and consent to extend the runway from to , at a cost of

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

20 million. The extension would accommodate larger aircraft, on longer haul routes from as far afield as the United States and Southeast Asia. It also stressed that this extension would take place when needed and not simply as a project just for the sake of a longer runway.

Housing

Dunedin International Airport Limited owns

Village, a small housing community adjacent to the airport.

Airlines and destinations

Mainland Air Mainland Air is a general aviation, flight training and air charter company operating out of Dunedin International Airport in New Zealand. History Mainland Air was established in 1991 by Queenstown businessman Christopher Kelliher. From 1995 t ...

is based at the airport, and operates scenic, charter and ambulance flights. Mainland Aviation College, a division of Mainland Air, operates a flight training school.

Statistics

2014

* This route is no longer operated.

2016

2019

References

External links

Official airport websiteAIP New Zealand Dunedin charts
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Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

Airports in New Zealand Buildings and structures in Otago Government-owned companies of New Zealand 1960s in Dunedin Transport buildings and structures in Otago