Independent consultancy Egis presented the findings of its survey to Queenstown Lakes district councillors earlier this week after two rounds of community engagement around potential development scenarios, along with recommendations for the future planning and management of the airport.
Egis aviation lead Kerr Forbes said five scenarios were presented to the community. The results indicated "scenario three" was the most supported, in which the airport would be a general aviation airport with domestic routes to Christchurch and/or Wellington.
It received 654 votes for and 358 votes against.
Egis reported the survey was under way as Sounds Air announced it was no longer operating flights from Wanaka to Christchurch due to a rise in costs and noted one of the main uses for the Sounds Air connection was medical travel.
"Options were presented to the community to aim to develop Wānaka to have medical facilities and a permanent flying doctor service or medical transfer service.
"These were strongly supported by the community with 78% support."
The airport served as a civil defence and emergency response hub and there was strong support to shore up those capabilities.
There was also strong support for developing the airport to have medical facilities and a permanent flying doctor service or medical transfer service, the Egis report said.
The airport at present supported many aviation businesses, including scenic flights, flight training and skydiving.
The survey showed strong support for encouraging more events at the airport like Warbirds Over Wanaka.
The proposed scenario which received the most opposition was option one which sought to close Wanaka Airport, the report said.
Wanaka ward Queenstown Lakes district councillor Niki Gladding said there needed to be hard restrictions in place so if scenario three was chosen it did not "bleed" into scenario four, whereby a direct flight to Auckland was established.
"We need to have restrictions on runway length and size of planes so we don’t bleed into scenario four.
"We need to know what the hard limits are," she said.
Scenario four received 735 votes in opposition and 283 in support.
Fellow ward councillor Cody Tucker said the report gave him certainty to move forward.
A Wanaka Stakeholders Group spokesperson said the results of the community engagement broadly aligned with what members had been saying consistently since 2019.
"We don’t want jets at Wānaka Airport and there is support for regional services, provided the numbers stack up, alongside general aviation.
"There is clearly still a great deal of work for council to do before councillors can make a decision on the future of Wānaka Airport.
"This work includes matters of governance, airport management ... and, very importantly, getting the finances right, many of these topics were raised at the workshop today, which is encouraging.
"Many of us in the community are ready to have input, and are keen to work collaboratively with council for the best outcome for the community.
"However, we are also aware that there are currently more fundamental and urgent infrastructure issues facing our community such as sewerage," they said.
The Egis report said Wanaka Airport provided 200 jobs and was at present subsidised by the Queenstown Lakes District Council and operated by Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC).
Queenstown Airport chief executive Shane O’Hare said the councillors’ workshop this week on the future plans of Wanaka Airport was a "positive next step".
"We will continue to work with and support QLDC and the community as required as the future planning takes shape," he said.
The level of activity at Wānaka Airport has passed a threshold that requires it to be managed differently.
The Civil Aviation Authority has notified the council it requires the airport to achieve qualifying status under Part 139 of the Civil Aviation Rules, which includes appointing suitable senior staff to specific roles at the airport and undertaking physical works to provide a safe operating environment such as tree removal, strip widening and new fencing to support safe access to the airstrip.
The agreed deadline to achieve qualifying status is July next year.
Views on future of Wānaka Airport
Option Yes No
Scenario 1: Close airport 45 979
Scenario 2: Airport open, but with no regional services 508 511
Scenario 3: Airport open with services to Christchurch or Wellington 654 358
Scenario 4: Airport open with domestic services, including direct
flights to Auckland 283 735
Scenario 5: Airport open with domestic services and flights to
Australia or the Pacific 132 885
