Whakatāne Airport Explained

Whakatāne Airport
Nativename:Papa Rererangi i Whakatāne
Iata:WHK
Icao:NZWK
Pushpin Map:North Island
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of airport in New Zealand
Pushpin Label:WHK
Pushpin Label Position:right
Location:Whakatāne, New Zealand
Elevation-F:20
Elevation-M:6
R1-Number:09R/27L
R1-Length-F:2461
R1-Length-M:750
R1-Surface:Grass
R2-Number:09L/27R
R2-Length-F:4200
R2-Length-M:1280
R2-Surface:Asphalt
Footnotes:Source: World Aero Data

Whakatāne Airport is an airport serving the town of Whakatāne, New Zealand, the Eastern Bay of Plenty and the tourist attractions of Mount Tarawera and White Island.

History

The airport opened on 24 January 1963 with a new sealed runway and a construction cost of 50,000 pounds.[1] It had a 250m runway end safety area (RESA) added to allow larger aircraft such as Saab 340 to land.[2]

Air Chathams operates daily flights to Auckland with a Saab 340.

The airport houses a flight school, agricultural aircraft, fixed wing tourist flights and commercial helicopter operations.[3]

The "excitingly different" terminal building was designed by Roger Walker[4] and completed in 1974. In 2019, Heritage New Zealand listed the airport terminal as a Category I Historic Place.[5] Air Chathams began serving Whakatāne with the Saab 340 on 29 November 2019.[6]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Whakatane Airport Opened . Photonews . 2 January 2020.
  2. News: Airport to have extended runway . 2 January 2020 . Whakatane Beacon.
  3. Web site: Airport. Whakatāne District Council. 25 November 2013. en-NZ. 2018-06-13.
  4. http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-NZIA1975_11HaB-t1-body-d32-d2-d12.html Home and Building, vol 37, no. 6, 1975
  5. Web site: Whakatāne Airport Terminal . . 31 May 2019.
  6. News: WHAKATĀNE READY FOR BIGGER AIRCRAFT . 2 January 2020 . Air Chathams . 11 November 2019.