2020 was a year full of surprises for everyone one of the surprises was under code name Oscar a plan to build a fully operational International Airport in Tarras located in the Otago region.
Why was this such a suprise?
Well plan Oscar was pushed forward by none other than Christchurch International Airport (CIAL) located over 300 km away leaving most of New Zealand stunned but no one more than Queenstown Airport now plan Oscar isn’t anything new about 30 years ago the idea of a new airport in Tarras was brought up for discussion as its clear that current demand on Queenstown is at capacity and without room to expand due to the awkward placement of the Airport left Queenstown limited to Movement daily Tarras would allow Tourist visiting the Area to have a more direct route into Queenstown with a Half hour drive and Tarras would allow bigger jets to arrive into Otago rather than Auckland or Christchurch.
The news was kept private for many years as if anyone on the board of Queenstown had found out the plan for Tarras they would’ve jumped to stop it. The whole plan had taken Christchurch over 10 years to obtain the land for the plan to happen after doing so locals heard rumors that a large Corporate company had purchased the land leading to CIAL CEO John Malcom reveling the news to New Zealand.
The Problem?
Well after revealing the plans to public CIAL have received nothing but Negative feedback many people feel that having a operational Airport in an area rich for its winery’s would Negatively impact the natural environment with many people also disliking that the area will grow in population forcing many generation farmers outa there land this has lead to many protest against CIAL with protesters playing dead on streets.
CIAL The Promise To “To Tatou Whenua”
When it comes to the Environment CIAL is very experienced in being Environmentally sustainable having Achieved the Highest level of recognition along with very few Airports having this award CIAL can be held to the promise of running a sustainable Airport. On the positive side of the Airport allowing it to go ahead in construction would create many new jobs in times where unemployment around the world is huge the Otago region would have millions of dollars pumped into the economy and local businesses creating much wealth to Locals.
Interesting! I found it hard to read though because of the lack of punctuation. Maybe next time use Grammarly, it’s a free extension that will add punctuation marks for you!
I find this very interesting, and I have been following updates since CIAL announced their plans. It will be extremely interesting how this all pans out with the locals and how it will benefit local tourism, especially in Wanaka. Exciting times for NZ Aviation!
Hm. I definitely understand the arguments of the opposing people. I will have to look for the exact position to get an exact opinion, but as of now, I don’t think it’s too good of an idea.
I didn’t know about this development. Thanks for sharing. With the covid19 pandemic, I do think tourists/visitors numbers are going to scale back and it will take some years to get back to capacity pre covid19 in NZ.
I can’t see the rationale behind it to become a reality, I do think there’s enough airports on the south island and the environmental impact it can cause to the outstanding nature area. Its more of a case where economic benefits vs protecting nature come to play and that’s a very difficult thing to balance.
That’s my two cents.
Very interesting article! Never heard bout these plans before, but if realised this would be a huge step for the region. Still, as is common with such projects there are understandable and reasonable concerns regarding the environment and also the quality of living in the region. It will be interesting to see whether these concerns can be mitigated or not.
Looking at the satellite pictures the new airport wouldn’t be exactly terrain free either, which would make for some challenges in regards to bad weather operations as is currently the case in Queenstown, wouldn’t it?
Very well put mate! Tbh I think they should upgrade Wanaka airport instead of Tarras, I’ve also been past Tarras myself, lovely small little township, with a lot of kiwi heritage and wineries, totally get why they wouldn’t want an airport near them. Makes sense to use the current airport in Wanaka considering since a 747 hotel will we put there anyway, also have once been used as commercial airport site for Air New Zealand link back in the day and you’re nearby another lovely big town! Not only they’ve got lots of land for them to make the upgrade.
