Rotorua Airport is an airport in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is located on Te Ngae Road ( SH30) in the suburb of Rotokawa, approximately 6 km north east of Rotorua CBD. The terminal consists of a two-storey building with six tarmac gates and is home to a cafe, book store and conference room. There are general aviation hangars located to both the north and the south of the main terminal, as well as an

avgas Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, w ...

pump at the southern end of the apron. The airport's main runway (18R/36L) is 2114m long and is sealed with asphalt. There is also a shorter grass runway (18L/36R) which runs parallel to the main runway, although the proximity of the two runways means that they can't be used simultaneously. Currently, the airport is served by Air New Zealand's regional subsidiaries with flights to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. A number of charter and scenic airlines also operate from the airport on a regular basis. In the past, the airport has been served by a number of airlines on domestic routes including Ansett New Zealand,

Origin Pacific Airways Origin Pacific Airways was an airline based in Nelson in New Zealand. Its main base was at Nelson Airport (NSN). It ceased passenger operations on 10 August 2006, and its residual freight operations on 15 September 2006. History Starting ...

and

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 ...

. Qantas services were withdrawn in 2009 when Jetstar took over domestic flying from its parent. The airport received international services for the first time in December 2009 when Air New Zealand began flights from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, although this service ended in April 2015 due to lack of demand.

History

Fokker F27-500F Friendship, Air New Zealand JP5937700

De Havilland Canada DHC-8-300 (ANZ) Rotorua, 16 Oct

Rotorua Airport, New Zealand, 26 October 2005

Rotorua Airport opened in 1964, with a 1378m x 30m sealed runway that could accommodate National Airways Corporation's

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

and Fokker F27 aircraft. It replaced the old Whakarewarewa Aerodrome, which was located just north of Sala Street in what is now a residential area. In 2002, an extension to the southern end of the airport's runway brought its total length to 1622m. Plans to further increase the main runway's length in two stages, initially by 150 metres at the northern end followed by 487 metres at the southern end (including newly mandated overrun areas), were approved in 2008 after a lengthy consultation process and court battle. The initial increase in length would allow operations by

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

aircraft to Australia, albeit with capacity restrictions, and the subsequent southern extension would allow these aircraft to serve the airport without capacity restrictions. The project was completed in 2009 and brought the combined length of the runway and overrun areas to 2,304 metres.NZ AIP Rotorua airport plate
retrieved 19 December 2009. These extensions, in conjunction with the already-completed upgrade of the terminal building and facilities, made the airport capable of handling international flights to Australia. Following the upgrade, Air New Zealand announced that it would begin flights between Rotorua and Sydney on 12 December 2009, the service being partially funded by the

Rotorua District Council Rotorua Lakes District or Rotorua District is a territorial authority district in the North Island of New Zealand. It has one urban area of significant size, the city of Rotorua. The district is governed by Rotorua Lakes Council, which is headq ...

. To coincide with the introduction of international flights, the airport was renamed Rotorua International Airport. The flights across the Tasman initially operated twice weekly (on Tuesdays and Saturdays), but dropped to one flight a week during off-peak months before winter services were suspended entirely in 2014. In October 2014, the Rotorua District Council decided, in conjunction with Air New Zealand, to stop subsidising the service as they felt that the amount they were funding, which equated to around $1 million per year, could be better spent on other initiatives. Therefore, it was announced that flights to Sydney would cease, and the final international flight from the airport was on 25 April 2015. Following the discontinuation of international flights, the airport stated that it was going to focus on strengthening domestic routes and was specifically interested in initiating non-stop flights to Queenstown.

Controversy

The expansion of Rotorua Airport to an international airport has encountered both strong opposition and support from locals.Airport extension delayed
( The Daily Post) 2006-12-27 Critics cite concern over on-going debt servicing and operating costs, anticipated noise levels, the destruction of natural forest and privately owned planted trees to accommodate the newly lowered flight path, and potential safety issues. The Ngati Uenukukopako tribe, whose marae is located at the northern end of the runway, have taken a complaint to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, and residents at the southern end of the runway continue to resist the Airport Company's programme to enforce cutting of trees which have been a longstanding feature of the area.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

References

External links

Rotorua Airport Official SiteRotorua District Council Airport Services SiteMetService weather observations and forecast at Rotorua AirportBay of Plenty Regional Council Publication – Bay of Plenty Regional Airports Requirements – Final Report
2002-12-17
Rotorua District Council Publication – Rotorua Regional Airport Development Strategy Designations and Plan Change
2005-12-16

2005–09 * ttp://aviation-safety.net/database/airport/airport.php?id=ROT Aviation Safety Network (ASN) – Rotorua Regional Airport profile {{authority control Airports in New Zealand Rotorua Buildings and structures in Rotorua Transport buildings and structures in the Bay of Plenty Region