Runway team wins award

Accepting the New Zealand Airports award for Project of the Year are project team representatives...
Accepting the New Zealand Airports award for Project of the Year are project team representatives (from left) Dan Easterby and George Leidig (Downer NZ), Richard Holyoake (Beca), Craig McKenzie (Downer NZ), Queenstown Airport chief executive Colin Keel, airport operations general manager Mike Clay and Doug Forsyth (Downer). PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Queenstown  Airport has gained the Project of the Year award at the New Zealand Airports Conference.

The award recognises the airport's completion of $19.6million of runway infrastructure in April that enabled night flights to the resort.

Beca principal Tristan Hughes, who presented the awards at a ceremony in Nelson last Thursday, said the project had been a ``truly collaborative'' effort between multiple parties.

The project, which involved widening the runway to 45m, adding a new asphalt overlay and installing new airfield lighting, had been particularly complex because the runway remained in use throughout the four-month operation.

``This required an extreme commitment and attention to detail from the entire project team as there was no room for error,'' Mr Hughes said.

Airport chief executive Colin Keel said the project team was ``delighted'' to be recognised for what was a challenging undertaking.

``It's a testament to everyone involved who worked so hard to deliver on time and under budget.

``Co-ordinating two night-time projects to run almost in parallel and ensure the airfield was safely ready for operations every morning required a high degree of collaboration and commitment.''

The runway works were designed and managed by Beca and constructed by Downer NZ, with the lighting installation undertaken by Airways New Zealand.

The other airports to win awards were Invercargill, which was named Regional Airport of the Year, and Wellington, which won Major Airport of the Year.

New Zealand Airports is a non-profit industry association for the country's 33 airports and related businesses.

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