Te Anau Airport
| Te Anau Regional Airport | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: TEU – ICAO: NZMO | |||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||||||
| Owner | Southland District Council | ||||||||||||||
| Operator | Southland District Council | ||||||||||||||
| Serves | Te Anau, Manapouri & Milford sound (Larger aircraft) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Manapouri | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 687 ft / 209 m | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 45°31′59″S 167°39′00″E / 45.53306°S 167.65000°ECoordinates: 45°31′59″S 167°39′00″E / 45.53306°S 167.65000°E | ||||||||||||||
| Website | teanauairport.co.nz | ||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||
  Te Anau Regional Airport Location of Manapouri Aerodrome within New Zealand | |||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||
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Te Anau Airport, Manapouri (IATA: TEU, ICAO: NZMO) serves the towns of Te Anau and Manapouri. It is not to be confused with the former and now closed Te Anau aerodrome located just south of that town.
Te Anau Airport, Manapouri is located 15 km south of Te Anau and 5 km north of Manapouri, on State Highway 95.
History
The airport was originally constructed by Mount Cook Airline as a base for the large Manapouri Powerstation project created in the 1960s.
The airport was sold to the Southland District Council in 2002. They promptly set out a plan to rebuild the airport facilities to modern passenger standards expected today. A new Passenger terminal was completed in 2009, replacing the somewhat spartan building that still stands as a facilities maintenance building.
The Council widened and lengthened the sealed main runway out to 1600 meters to encourage a return of scheduled services. (that ended in 2000).[1] The sealed runway is equipped with an APAPI system, available only by pre-booking with the airport manager. The terminal building is also only available with prior notice. There is no runway lighting at present. A NDB is located 2.5NM/6.5 km NE of the airport.
Operations
Scheduled services have been operated from Queenstown to Te Anau in the past, with Mount Cook Airline's Hawker Siddeley HS 748 and de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft. Air New Zealand ATR-72 aircraft operated when the HS748s and DHC-6s were retired but low passenger numbers saw the service cancelled. Air New Zealand had plans to resume a daily Christchurch service prior to the 2011 earthquake but cancelled the proposal due to a drop in tourist numbers. Since then, the possibility of resuming scheduled air services to Te Anau is occasionally brought up, such as in 2013 when Air New Zealand mentioned the possibility of extending an afternoon return flight from Christchurch to Queenstown on to Te Anau.
Tauck World Discovery Travel currently charters a Fokker 50 aircraft operated by Alliance Airlines to fly to the airport as part of their New Zealand tours. For 2015 tours, the aircraft flies to Te Anau from Blenheim's Woodbourne Aerodrome but, as the next leg of the tour is by coach, no destinations are currently served from Te Anau.[2] Until the end of 2014, Tauck chartered an Air Chathams Convair 580 and, in previous years, they chartered a Vincent Aviation Bae 146-200 "Whisper Jet" to fly from Christchurch to Te Anau return each Wednesday. In October 2015, Kiwi Regional Airlines expressed an interest in flying to Te Anau, but these plans have been scrapped due to the airline ceasing operations (30th July 2016).[3]
The airport is also home to several scenic and charter flight operators which provide flights in and around Fiordland National Park. Air Chathams will run 3 charter flights between Te Anau and the Chatham Islands using their Convair 580 aircraft in January 2016.[4]
Airlines and destinations
This list only includes scheduled services operating from the airport. It does not include scenic flights or unscheduled charter flights.
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Tauck Tours operated by Alliance Airlines[5] | Charter: Queenstown[6] |
See also
References
- ↑ Southland Times|New Tourist Gateway 2010
- ↑ "Tauck - Spotlight on New Zealand". Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ↑ Woolf, Amber-Leigh. "Te Anau Airport in talks with Kiwi Regional Airlines". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ↑ "Te Anau Manapouri Airport / Chatham Islands Direct". Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ↑ "Tauck Tours using an Australian Fokker 50 in New Zealand". Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ↑ "Spotlight on New Zealand". Tauck.co.nz. Retrieved 18 April 2015.