Air New Zealand is being forced to cut passenger numbers on
its new international service into Rotorua, because a
landowner refuses to cut trees on his property.
The newly-extended Rotorua Airport welcomes its first
international flight, an Air NZ Airbus 320 from Sydney, on
December 12.
However, trees on the property of Geoff Fischer about 1km
away stand in defiance of Civil Aviation Authority
regulations requiring airport operators to protect the
flightpaths of landing and taking-off aircraft, the Dominion
Post reported today.
Unless the trees are trimmed, the number of passengers on the
landing A320s will be cut, from 152 to 126.
The Environment Court recently ruled Rotorua District
Council-owned airport operator could not prune Mr Fischer's
trees, after breaching an earlier court ruling on the retired
man's foliage.
In 2000, the company trimmed seven metres from one of Mr
Fischer's fir trees -- about four metres more than the court
ruled they could.
Rotorua mayor Kevin Winters said airport authorities
"absolutely, very seriously" wanted to make a deal with Mr
Fischer, ahead of the arrival of a delegation of dignitaries
from Sydney ion the first flight.
Mr Fischer had hardened his attitude towards the airport
company after it over-pruned his trees nine years ago, he
said.
He wanted compensation for 10 trimmed trees, including two
firs, an oak, a kauri, a walnut tree and a eucalyptus.
The airport company predicted numbers of Australians visiting
Rotorua would be up to nearly quarter of a million by the end
of 2014.
