A report to the Central Otago District Council, which owns the airport, said Airways New Zealand was withdrawing outdated navigation systems throughout the country and was not providing any funding for replacement technology.
"Airways New Zealand is taking this position as the ground-based systems are outdated World War 2 technology with high maintenance costs of between $3000 or $6000 per annum," council property and facilities officer Christina Martin said.
There were two ground-based navigation approaches at the Alexandra Airport and one had already been removed.
The removal of the second one had been put on hold until funding was available for a replacement, she said.
"Without navigation aids, flights in poor weather will not be able to land at the Alexandra airport as they do presently," Ms Martin said.
Airways New Zealand had provided a quote of $40,400 plus GST for a new GPS system.
Once established, there were no ongoing maintenance costs.
The council will apply to the Central Lakes Trust for a grant of $27,000 and cover the remaining $13,400.
The Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust and Mainland Air, which use the airport, provided letters of support.
Mainland Air said without an instrument approach, potentially life-saving air services would be jeopardised, Ms Martin said.
Given the importance of the project to the region, the council should seek a grant to help with the bulk of the cost.
An initial conversation with the trust about funding was encouraging. Other users of the expanding airport would also benefit from the upgrade, she said.
Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper agreed with the recommendation to seek external funding although he was not in favour of "running off to the Central Lakes Trust all the time for council projects".
"However, we don’t need this for our routine flights, we need it for difficult flights, and it’s a real life-saver. That’s how we need to look at it."
