Changes coming up at Wanaka Airport and the possibility of a flight school at Oamaru should prompt the Omarama Airfield board of directors to broaden the objectives of the airfield, the Waitaki District Council’s finance, audit and risk committee says.
The council is a 50% shareholder of the company; Omarama Soaring Centre holds the balance. Omarama- based councillor Craig Dawson said with Wanaka "looking at getting national flights", airfields at Pukaki and Omarama could get busier if recreational pilots from smaller clubs were pushed further afield.
"We need to be prepared for that," he said.
Omarama Airfield’s statement of intent for 2018-19, tabled at yesterday’s committee meeting, prioritised enhancing infrastructure at the airfield for "local and international gliding visitors".
Cr Dawson said the airfield’s board should be urged to review the scope of its objectives.
"It should be used for as many options as we’ve got," he said.
At the committee meeting, council chief executive Fergus Power noted New Zealand Airline Academy, if it were to be established at Oamaru Airport, could make use of the airfield at Omarama as well.
