Who owns it, who governs it and who manages it are matters on the agenda for the second-last meeting of the current council on September 29.
Deputy Mayor Lyal Cocks said this week the meeting would decide whether an options paper should go out for public consultation.
He said the group within council who had studied the options was recommending the airport be leased to the Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) rather than be sold.
QAC manages the airport at present.
The public will get their say at a hearing, but ultimately it will be the councillors they elect next month who will make the final decision.
The Otago Daily Times asked Wanaka candidates for the council and the Wanaka Community Board where they stood on the future ownership and governance of the airport.
Cr Ella Lawton: ``I highly doubt that the community would be in favour of relinquishing ownership of this valuable asset. There may be merit in the creation of a council-controlled trading organisation. However, the devil is in the detail.
Bryan Lloyd: ``I feel it is important that both Wanaka and Queenstown Airports remain under one umbrella and operate as complementary entities. I therefore favour a long-term lease in favour of QAC in the meantime, but some other structure like a separate company may prove to be more appropriate in the long term. Should a sale or long-term lease to QAC be the eventual outcome, I see it as imperative that the board members must possess the appropriate skill set/qualifications to ensure that the usage of the asset is maximised for the benefit of Wanaka as a whole.''
Cr Calum MacLeod: ``I am open to pretty much any alternatives at the moment. Astral have given us some recommendations and we will examine them fully. We will also, no doubt, be looking into other options also. As we all know, the devil is in the detail.''
Ross McRobie: ``There are two options, in my view - a long-term lease to, say, QAC or a full sale on the open market. Both options will need consultation. In my view, Wanaka airport needs to be managed by an airport company and it seems logical that QAC does this for the interests of the total district.''
Jude Battson: ``Recommendations have been assessed through a business plan process and I support the options being considered in public consultation.''
Ruth Harrison: ``Either proposed option seems premature and the council had recognised this [and] is asking for more work to be done.''
Quentin Smith: ``In principle, I am not opposed to QAC running the Wanaka airport, provided it was under a robust set of policy and management plans regarding the direction of the airport.''
Ed Taylor: ``I would be happy with either of the recommendations. QAC have proved to be good owners of Queenstown Airport and return a healthy dividend to the QLDC through its 75% stakeholding. There are many opportunities to grow general aviation and other aviation-related activities at Wanaka in conjunction with Queenstown and QAC will do this if they either own Wanaka or they have a long-term lease, e.g. 99-year lease.''
Rachel Brown: ``I favour a comprehensive review and full and frank consultation with the community. I believe the Wanaka community will only accept an option that retains some community ownership in terms of strategic planning/decision making as well as ongoing financial return.''
Barry Bruce: ``Recommendation 5 [sell to QAC] in the Astral report meets most of my wish-list requirements for Wanaka Airport, with perhaps some Wanaka representation at the boardroom table.''
Community board candidate Ruth Harrison was the only candidate who considered a review of the airport's governance was not needed, ``based on evidence of performance to date''.
``There are some pluses and minuses to current ownership/governance arrangements.
``The biggest positive is that it is owned by local ratepayers.''
All candidates considered the airport was being run satisfactorily at present, but most believed there was room for improvement and particularly more investment to keep pace with the region's growth.
As an example, Cr MacLeod said the airport needed a ``300m-wide runway strip''.
``It is more than likely that Wanaka Airport will be needed to be able to accommodate commercial flights, diversion traffic and overflow of general aviation traffic'' from Queenstown, he said.
He noted the council had no budget for the airport, apart from $150,000 per annum for capital improvements.
``We are looking at an investment in the region of $25 million to $30 million.''
Community board candidate Ed Taylor questioned the amount of investment likely to come from the council, faced with pressure to invest in other areas.
He also believed QAC was ``not going to make a major investment into the facility while it only has a management contract''.
