Its through-the-night main runway widening from 30m to 45m is now completed.
Tonight, contractors will embark on the next phase, installing a 110mm-thick asphalt runway ‘‘overlay''.
More than 50m of runway will be completed per night. Mainly fine summer weather has helped contractors keep to schedule.
Airport operations general manager Mike Clay said Downer NZ and Beca had two weeks in hand for bad weather but they had lost only one day.
They were on track for an early-April finish, he said.
The runway at the fast-growing airport is being widened and lights installed before night flights begin in July.
Airways New Zealand's head of service delivery, Paul Fallow said with new lighting and advanced flight procedures, airlines flying into Queenstown would have one of the most sophisticated air navigation control systems in the world.
Queenstown Airport's last overlay was done in 2010, and was expected to last up to 10 years.
However, sections of runway became rutted last year, chewed up by skyrocketing traffic, heavier planes and no parallel taxiway.
They were patched last year after pilots raised concerns.
Mr Clay said the new overlay would last up to 10 years. It would be grooved to help drain water and reduce the chance of ice forming.
Smaller planes are affected by the overlay work.
The cross-wind runway will be temporarily shortened by 270m for up to four weeks. - Mountain Scene
