Queenstown Airport will lose "International" from its name if it does not build a 90m safety area at the eastern end of its runway by October 2011, a hearing was told yesterday.
Independent commissioners Trevor Shiels and Christine Kelly heard evidence from Queenstown Airport Corporation Ltd (QAC) counsel Amanda Dewar and witnesses at the start of the four-day resource consent hearing in Queenstown yesterday.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) specified that runway end safety areas (Resa) must extend at least 90m from the end of the strip on international airport runways.
However, it accepted Queenstown's runway extension was limited to the west by State Highway 6 and to the east by the Shotover River embankment and river delta.
QAC's proposed and preferred Resa would be a flat and grassed engineered fill platform 90m long and wide and 45m high from the delta to runway level, on land owned and made available by Queenstown Lakes District Council and over the embankment.
The 300,000 cu m of fill would be sandy gravel from the Lower Shotover River.
It would be completed in 16-27 months.
Aviation consultant Dave Park said Air New Zealand, Jetconnect, Qantas, Pacific Blue and Mount Cook Airlines supported QAC's Resa proposal as it did not impact aircraft performance and improved safety.
One airline told Mr Park if the fill came to a significant cost to carriers, it would support QAC's less favoured option of having the Resa eat into the existing runway, thereby cutting the landing and take-off length available to aircraft.
The commissioners heard passenger numbers were already slightly restricted on transtasman flights at a loss in airline revenue to accommodate the relatively short runway.
Octa Consultants Ltd project manager Mike Davies said an engineered fill was the most practical and cost-effective solution.
The quantity of river gravel would depend on the Otago Regional Council (ORC) and resource consent.
"Construction of the Resa will enhance ORC river management objectives by providing a nearby location for river gravels that ORC propose to remove from the lower delta," he said.
MWH Ltd construction engineer Alistair McGaughran explained how the proposed fill would be built.
He said it was a satisfactory design solution, reasonably straight forward and the effects could be mitigated.
Old School Rd, Spence Rd or Glenda Dr would not be used for material haulage or construction vehicles, as opposing parties submitted, he said.
Access to the site would be via Tuckers Beach Rd and the delta access track.
Dust could be a problem for landowners, road users and aircraft visibility but potential dust control measures included vegetation, suppressants and water, Mr McGaughran said.
QAC chief executive Steve Sanderson said the airport had seen a 7% increase in passenger figures and more than 4100 airline flights for the year ending June 2008.
Domestic passenger numbers rose 6%, from 599,477 to 638,364, while international passenger numbers rose by 16%, from 53,547 to 62,276.
