Concern over airport hangars delay

Four planes owned by a burgeoning international air school in North Otago were "wrecked" by windy weather, after a delay of two years to build a hangar to shelter them.

The NZ Airline Academy says they have been trying for two years to get council approval to build new hangars — although Waitaki District Council (WDC) chief executive Alex Parmley yesterday denied the delay.

"There is no hold-up regarding potential future hangars at Oamaru Airport.

"Council is working with the flight school to progress their request as quickly as possible."

A report was due to be tabled to elected representatives on March 25.

It comes after three of the academy’s aircraft were badly damaged in a squally southerly wind change at the Oamaru Airport last week.

The academy is now storing half of its 25 light planes outdoors due to limited hangar space on airport land it leases from the council.

The issue of storage came to a head last May after the academy lost a plane to wind.

The future of the flipped planes was uncertain, NZ Airline Academy chief executive Jonathan Manuel said.

Mr Manuel said talks with the WDC to free-up "fenced off" land to build another hangar had dragged on for more than two years.

"Last year, in May, we had one plane destroyed. So that is when we actively [began] asking them ... so that we could construct a hangar. But they’re still sitting on it," he said.

The academy had also been waiting on a strategic plan for the airport, and a Civil Aviation Authority aeronautical study delivered to the council last September.

The airport is now the fifth-busiest airport in the country, he said.

In just two years, it grew from 13,104 movements in 2021 to 42,690 by 2023.

Mr Parmley said there was "a process to follow and a number of steps need to be taken".

This included that the academy’s proposal "will fit seamlessly" within areas outlined in the Oamaru Airport Strategic Plan for future development.

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said the academy’s plans entailed two new hangers on leased airport land alongside the existing one.

He had regularly visited the academy for several years and checked in last week following the storm to get the "lay of the land".

Mr Kircher sighed when the Otago Daily Times asked if any delay for the academy’s plans was due to the council and why.

"I’m not actually sure," he said.

"Following the incident, I did ask some questions and got the reassurance that this report is coming to us to make a decision on a lease," he said.

The current hangar is leased to the academy with an option to buy.

Mr Kircher believed the council report would suggest freeing up land for the academy to build two hangars and an administration area.

He described the burgeoning academy as "all very positive" for the district economically.

There was a direct spinoff to other Oamaru Airport-based businesses Heliventures, and the North Otago Aeroclub.

The academy had bucked the trend by securing an international student presence in North Otago against the odds post-Covid.

"NZ Airline Academy are doing such a wonderful job ...

"Really they have with tenacity and sacrifice held on and grown bigger than ever, and there is much opportunity for the district."