Hood Aerodrome is an aerodrome, located in
Masterton
Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...
,
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 1 NM South West of the town centre in the suburb of
Solway. The aerodrome was named after
George Hood, a pioneer Masterton aviator who died trying to make the first
Trans-Tasman
Trans-Tasman is an adjective used primarily to signify the relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The term refers to the Tasman Sea, which lies between the two countries. For example, ''trans-Tasman commerce'' refers to commerce betwee ...
crossing in 1928. The aerodrome is used extensively for general aviation flights, and has also been used for commercial flights, Air New Zealand stopped serving the airport from 5 February 2014. Two new airlines have looked at re-instating a service to Auckland using larger aircraft but the runway will need to be lengthened to 1400m and widened to 30m first before it can start.
History
The Masterton Aerodrome was opened in 1931.
Historically, Hood Aerodrome has been served by
South Pacific Airlines of New Zealand in 1962–1966 and two locally based carriers,
Wairarapa Airlines which linked Masterton with Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, Nelson and Christchurch from August 1981 to January 1997. Then a new airline
Air Wairarapa
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...
briefly flew to Auckland via Paraparumu in 2002. Between February 2009 and February 2014,
Eagle Airways
Eagle Airways was a regional airline based in Hamilton, New Zealand and was wholly owned by Air New Zealand, operating regional services under the Air New Zealand Link brand. The airline was disbanded on 26 August 2016, with staff absorbed int ...
, a subsidiary of
Air New Zealand Link
Air New Zealand Link was a brand name under which Air New Zealand's subsidiary regional airlines operated flights. They primarily connected regional centres with New Zealand's three main international airports, Auckland Airport, Wellington Intern ...
flew to Auckland from Masterton. The flights were operated by 19-seat
Beechcraft 1900
The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop regional airliner manufactured by Beechcraft. It is also used as a freight aircraft and corporate transport, and by several governmental and military organizations. With c ...
D aircraft. In September 2013, Air New Zealand announced the airline would withdraw all services to Masterton from 5 February 2014, due to a lack of demand.
The airport is working on a plan to reinstate an air service to Auckland with an invitation to the airlines underway.
Grass runway 06L/24R closed in November 2019 following an independent review of operations at the aerodrome.
Work to extend and widen the main runway is in the planning stage. The budget set for this project is $17 million.
Other Uses
The aerodrome is the home of New Zealand's 'Sports and Vintage Aviation Society', which has had a hangar on site since 1978.
Since 1999 Hood Aerodrome has held a biennial
airshow
An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited.
They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground.
The largest air show m ...
, "Wings over Wairarapa". The eleventh such event took place on 26–27 February 2021,
[https://www.wings.org.nz/, accessed December 2020.] the final scheduled display on 28 February being cancelled due to a change in New Zealand's
COVID-19 alert level.
The aerodrome land also hosts a purpose built dragstrip.
See also
*
List of airports in New Zealand
This is a list of airports in New Zealand, sorted by location.
List
Airport names shown in bold indicate the airport has scheduled passenger service on commercial airlines. The cities shown in bold are international.
See also
* Transpo ...
*
List of airlines of New Zealand
This is a list of airlines that have an Air Operator Certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand.
Scheduled airlines
Charter airlines
Cargo airlines
See also
* List of defunct airlines of New Zealand
*List of airli ...
*
Transport in New Zealand
Transport in New Zealand, with its mountainous topography and a relatively small population mostly located near its long coastline, has always faced many challenges. Before Europeans arrived, Māori either walked or used watercraft on rivers o ...
References
External links
Hood Aerodrome websiteNZ Sport and Vintage Aviation Society websiteWairarapa Aero ClubMasterton motorplex drag racing site
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Airports in New Zealand
Masterton
Buildings and structures in the Wairarapa
Transport buildings and structures in the Wellington Region