Paraparaumu Airport - possible closure

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › Paraparaumu Airport - possible closure

1 | 2 | 3

pvjones

42 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 14
Inactive user

#2540436 13-Aug-2020 18:44

It would be a pity to see it go because it’s a good alternate for small aircraft. Useful if the Wellington runway was out of use for a few hours & a plane was low on fuel.

Zeon

3926 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 759

Trusted

#2540781 14-Aug-2020 10:32

mattwnz:

I would have thought i was needed for redundancy incase of a big earthquake in Wellington, which may damage the Wellington Airport one due to where it is and how it came about.

This is New Zealand - redundancy isn't needed - "she'll be right"

Speedtest 2019-10-14

mclean

584 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 182

Subscriber

#2540786 14-Aug-2020 10:36

PolicyGuy: I'm not sure that's necessarily correct.

I have a dim recollection that the land was originally taken under the Public Works Act for the purposes of building an airfield.
If the land is no longer required as an airfield, there would be an argument that it should go back to the former owners ... or even to the original owners if different.
Waitangi Tribunal, anyone?

Yes, it was taken under the Public Works Act during WW2. The later Airport Authorities Act allowed airports to be sold into private ownership, which is what happened, but that Act was later amended so that provision of the Public Works Act requiring "surplus" land to be offered back to the original owners would still apply. Claimants to the Kapiti Airport land interpret this to mean that as soon as the land is no longer used as an airport it becomes "surplus" and therefore has to be offered back.

Such a claim might be problematic while the land is in private ownership, but certainly not impossible as events at Oruarangi have shown. If the Kapiti Coast District Council were to purchase the land then I'm guessing it would then revert to the original owners in a flash.

elpenguino

3577 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2940

#2540796 14-Aug-2020 10:46

Zeon:

mattwnz:

I would have thought i was needed for redundancy incase of a big earthquake in Wellington, which may damage the Wellington Airport one due to where it is and how it came about.

This is New Zealand - redundancy isn't needed - "she'll be right"

Well, we often have that attitude, I agree, which makes us the kickin-back fun-lovin types we are, but luckily in aviation every flight needs at least one alternate destination planned before take off, as well as safe return to the take off airport ( which is why flights don't take off in fog, in case they need to land back at the same airport).

Kapiti is no good as a practical alternate for Wellington because the runway is too short - even if a flight lands safely in an emergency, it might be so heavily loaded that it can't take off again. Then the aircraft needs to be emptied of passengers, cargo, fuel which is all a major exercise.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

mattwnz

20520 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4798

#2541785 15-Aug-2020 16:17

elpenguino:

s no good as a practical alternate for Wellington because the runway is too short - even if a flight lands safely in an emergency, it might be so heavily loaded that it can't take off again. Then the aircraft needs to be emptied of passengers, cargo, fuel which is all a major exercise.

In an emergency situation, that probably isn't the end of the world, and far better than the alternative.

BlinkyBill

1443 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1100
Inactive user

#2541787 15-Aug-2020 16:26

mattwnz:

I would have thought i was needed for redundancy incase of a big earthquake in Wellington, which may damage the Wellington Airport one due to where it is and how it came about.

ohakea is a vastly better emergency alternate than Paraparaumu.

Geekzone support

Support Geekzone with one-off or recurring donations Donate via PressPatron.

Technofreak

6657 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3477

Trusted

#2541950 15-Aug-2020 21:16

elpenguino:

Well, we often have that attitude, I agree, which makes us the kickin-back fun-lovin types we are, but luckily in aviation every flight needs at least one alternate destination planned before take off, as well as safe return to the take off airport ( which is why flights don't take off in fog, in case they need to land back at the same airport).

Kapiti is no good as a practical alternate for Wellington because the runway is too short - even if a flight lands safely in an emergency, it might be so heavily loaded that it can't take off again. Then the aircraft needs to be emptied of passengers, cargo, fuel which is all a major exercise.

Not true on all points. Though many flights do require an alternate, every flight DOES NOT require an alternate. Flights DO NOT have to be able to make a safe return to the take off airport. Flights DO take off in fog, they just need to have a departure alternate.

Kapiti is too short for some aircraft to use it as an alternate for Wellington but a significant number of the aircraft that operate into Wellington can arrive and depart quite safely from Paraparaumu.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

1 | 2 | 3