Chatham Islands / Tuuta Airport is an airport northeast of Waitangi Township on the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

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 ...

. The airport, in part named in honour of the Chatham islander, Inia William Tuuta, who gifted the land for the airport, was completed in 1982 to replace a compacted grass airstrip at Te Hapupu that could only handle slow-flying

Safe Air SAFE AIR (Simulation of Air pollution From Emissions Above Inhomogeneous Regions) is an advanced atmospheric pollution dispersion model for calculating concentrations of atmospheric pollutants emitted both continuously or intermittently from p ...

Bristol Freighter The Bristol Type 170 Freighter is a British twin-engine aircraft designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company as both a freighter and airliner. Its best known use was as an air ferry to carry cars and their passengers over relatively s ...

aircraft. The

Armstrong Whitworth Argosy The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was a three-engine biplane airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. It was the company's first airliner. The Argosy was developed during the early-to-mid ...

immediately started operating to the islands using the new airport until 1990, when

Mount Cook Airlines Mount Cook Airline was a regional airline based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Formerly part of the Mount Cook Group and latterly a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, it operated scheduled services throughout the country under the Air New Zealand L ...

and later

Air Chathams Air Chathams Limited is an airline based in the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. It was established in 1984 and operates scheduled passenger services between the Chatham Islands and mainland New Zealand along with routes between Auckland a ...

took over air services to and from mainland New Zealand. A small aviation museum is also based there, signifying the importance that aviation has played in developing the economic wealth of the island group. Air Chathams operates services to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

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 Rive ...

, and

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 metr ...

. The airport is the base of Air Chathams and usually houses two aircraft overnight.

Improvements proposed

In 2012 the New Zealand Government announced plans to develop the airport as part of an overall Economic Plan for the Chatham Islands. Proposals include and extension out to 5250 feet (1600 metres) and resurfacing of the runway. A new passenger and administration terminal is also planned along with a larger apron area and a new large aircraft hangar.Stuff.co.nz , Prime Minister Visits Chatham Islands, Sept'12

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatham Islands Tuuta Airport Airports in New Zealand Chatham Islands Chatham Island