Kāpiti Coast Airport confirms it will close at end of November

Kāpiti Coast Airport has actually validated it will close on 30 November, a choice which the regional MP has actually knocked as “cruel, unfair and unnecessary”

A representative for owners NZ PropCo stated the airport will close at 7pm on 30 November, and up until then would “continue to operate under its existing certificate and safety requirements”

Kāpiti Aero Club stated previously today that Kāpiti Coast Airport Holdings had actually asked it to surrender its lease – which remains in location up until 2033 – on 30 November, and to abandon the land by 28 February 2027.

Sounds Air president Andrew Crawford informed RNZ he’s likewise been notified by the airport’s president it will close on 30 November.

The airport, owned by NZ PropCo, had actually gotten in a conditional sale and purchase contract that needed the airport to close.

Ōtaki MP Tim Costley stated he was truly worried about the closure date.

“It’s really soon, particularly if they’re lease went well into the 20-30s from what I’ve heard, to suddenly being told you have now three weeks.

“This simply appears vicious, unreasonable and unneeded.”

Costley said there were pragmatic ways the airport could keep operating now, while the owners go through a process to sell it. He said the land was being sold for housing development, but this required a council zoning change through a public process, which was far from guaranteed.

“We do not require it. We have more than 5000 homes entering throughout Kāpiti.”

The airport was needed as a critical piece of infrastructure for medical and civil emergencies, Costley said, as well as regional connectivity.

In the last year, about 15 Life Flight aircraft landed at Kāpiti Coast Airport when they couldn’t land in Wellington, he said.

Costley said he had heard from two people who credited the airport with saving their life or partner’s life in a medical emergency.

Closure would be a ‘terrible loss’ for community

Kāpiti Aero Club executive member Peter Merwood said the club was taking legal advice about the request to surrender its lease.

“We have a lease which offers us rights over the airport till 2033, so the concern is why would we consider that up, we have a legal privilege to the land.”

Merwood said the closure would be a “horrible loss” for the community.

The club, open since 1983, currently had 13 staff, operates a fleet of more than 10 aircraft, had 250 members and had trained hundreds of pilots who now worked in the aviation sector, he said.

“Today we’ve got on the books 50 individuals that are actively being trained and they may being opting for a personal pilot’s license, a business pilot’s license.”

The next nearest training areas were Feilding or Wellington, though Costley said Wellington was not suitable for all types of training due to the numbers of commercial flights flying in and out of the airport.

“When an airport like Kāpiti is lost, it’s gone, it’ll never ever return,” Merwood said.

Mayor says council inundated with emails

Kāpiti Coast mayor Janet Holborow said the council had been inundated with emails asking them to stop the re-zoning of the airport – but it’s not that simple.

“It’s crucial to comprehend that council can’t simply vote to stop a modification of classification.”

She said the council had tried to negotiate with the airport owners.

“It’s a discouraging scenario due to the truth that the property remains in personal ownership. Council is not in a position to purchase the land or fund the facilities required to keep it running.”

Holborow said councillors must remain impartial throughout the zoning change process, following the Resource Management Act 1991.

She said the council made a mistake selling the airport off in 1995, and were asking the government to step in now.

“What is clear is that we require to interact and put pressure on our regional MP and the federal government to conserve our airport.”

She stated the council had actually supplied financing and loans recently to guarantee the air services continued to run in between Kāpiti and Auckland.

Difficult financial conditions had actually seen both Air New Zealand and Air Chathams pull out of offering services from Kāpiti Airport.

Holborow stated Wellington Airport was susceptible throughout an emergency situation, and the Kāpiti Airport was required as a back-up for the area.