Destination Westland Ltd chairman Greg Bishop and chief executive Melanie Anderson last week updated the Westland District Council’s council-controlled organisation oversight committee on the company’s future plans.
Mr Bishop said a rebranding of the company was on the horizon and potentially a new name, to better reflect its aviation role.
Destination Westland has both the Hokitika Airport and the busy Franz Josef Heliport in its portfolio.
The committee was told a priority for the coming year was improving regular passenger transport in and out of the airport.
These included planned upgrades to runway lighting to improve pilots’ ability to land in poorer visibility conditions and improving the customer experience at the airport, starting with reopening the cafe within the terminal building.
Increases to landing fees from Air New Zealand were also forecast.
However, discussions were, at present, on hold.
Mayor Helen Lash said from her own discussions with the airline, those talks and any increases, were some way off and to try now would be ‘‘risky’’.
Mr Bishop confirmed nothing was proposed in the short term.
However, it was important to show there was an expectation from the company.
Unlike other regional airports, Hokitika had maintained all scheduled flights amid Air New Zealand cuts. — Janna Sherman
