The CEO of Kāpiti Coast Airport met Transport Minister Michael Wood recently to discuss the challenges of operating the small aerodrome in the heart of Paraparaumu.
"It was a very constructive meeting in which we outlined our financial position and dwindling number of commercial flights at the airport," chief executive Chris Simpson says.
"We think the Minister appreciated our situation and the ongoing challenges we’re facing."
Chris says the Kāpiti region was growing rapidly with huge demand for housing and associated infrastructure, yet residents were choosing not to fly via the airport.
The local economy grew 0.3% per cent in the year to March 2021, and employment was up 1.8 per cent in the past year, while the Council issued 57 new residential building consents in the March quarter.
"This is good for the region, but our passenger numbers are far too low to run a viable airport. Fewer than 200 fee paying passengers use the airport each week which is less than 0.5 per cent of the KƒÅ¬Åpiti population. We recognise that people like the ‘idea’ of a local airport, but the fact remains that 99.5 per cent of the population aren’t using it and we are beginning to feel like the Yellow Pages – wanted and expected but not really used."
Chris says the Airport hadn’t recovered from Air New Zealand’s withdrawal in 2018 and it was now losing about $1.2 million a year from operating the airport and would need to invest up to $5 million to upgrade the runway by 2025.
"There’s so much going on in KƒÅpiti and we want to contribute in a meaningful way, however, KƒÅ¬Åpiti people aren’t using the airport."
