Brent Collins, originally of Blenheim, applied for land use consent in 2009 to establish the new tourism venture on Lake Wakatipu, which would take people on sightseeing trips primarily from Queenstown to Glenorchy, but which would also include charter trips to Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea.
Mr Collins, an agricultural pilot who has lived in South Africa for the past 12 years, originally proposed to have the operation based at St Omer's Wharf in Queenstown, but after consultation amended the base plan to a floating pontoon and water taxi system, located on the Queenstown Gardens side of Queenstown Bay.
"This proposal ensures planes are [located] away from the commercial premises and accommodation providers and presents less potential safety conflicts with other lake users."
Passengers would be taken by water taxi from the main Queenstown wharves to the floating pontoon where they would embark on to the plane.
The plane would then taxi from Queenstown Bay to the open waters of Lake Wakatipu to take-off and landing areas.
On return, passengers would be picked up from the pontoon by water taxi and returned to the wharves in Queenstown Bay.
The secondary runway would be located at Frankton Arm, for use if weather conditions within Queenstown Bay were unsuitable.
Consent was also sought for two planes, although initially only one would be used.
It was intended to use a de Havilland Beaver (DHC-2) with a three-bladed prop and/or a Cessna 206 (non turbo).
A DHC-2 model could carry a pilot and seven passengers, while the C206 had capacity for a pilot and five passengers.
The aircraft would have deployable wheels, allowing aircraft storage at Queenstown Aircraft premises overnight and on non-flying days.
It was proposed for the aircraft to leave Queenstown Airport each morning, land on the designated runway on Lake Wakatipu or in Queenstown Bay and then taxi to the pontoon.
The plane would return to Queenstown Airport at the close of business each night.
"It is intended the proposed activity will operate on a year-round basis, with the frequency of trips determined by seasonal variations and weather conditions," the application said.
"The maximum number of flights per day for the operation of two planes is 16 flights over winter months and 22 flights over summer months.
"This excludes the daily morning and evening departures to and from the airport."
Each trip would take about 50 minutes, with a total flight time of about 24 minutes.
Submissions on the application close with Lakes Environmental on September 29.
