Christchurch International Airport

Christchurch International Airport
IATA: CHC – ICAO: NZCH
Summary
Airport type		Public
Operator		Christchurch International Airport Limited
Location		Christchurch
Elevation AMSL		123 ft / 37 m
Coordinates		43°29′22″S 172°31′56″E / -43.48944, 172.53222
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
02/20	10,785	3,288	Asphalt - Primary
11/29	5,712	1,741	Asphalt - Secondary
02/20	1,690	515	Grass - Aeroclub

Christchurch International Airport (IATA: CHC, ICAO: NZCH) is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located 12 kilometres to the northwest of the city centre, in the suburb of Harewood, and was opened in 1953.^[1] The primary runway is oriented near perpendicular to Canterbury's Nor'wester föhn wind. For this reason, the secondary runway is a cross-runway (at a right angle to the primary runway), and is used during Nor'westers by all aircraft up to and including Boeing 767s. The Boeing 777 and C-17 Globemaster III types have been known to use this runway in extreme conditions.^[2] Garden City Helicopters operates from a base adjacent to the airport. They have a medivac service using fixed wing aircraft and also operate the rescue helicopter in Canterbury with a secondary helipad in Hagley Park adjacent to Christchurch Hospital (ICAO: NZJC). Christchurch Helicopters also operate from the western side of the airfield, next to Canterbury Aero Club, which maintains a grass runway parallel to the primary runway. The airport is about to embark on a major upgrade costing over $200 million, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2009, due to increasing passenger numbers.

Contents 1 Terminal Statistics 1.1 Domestic Parking positions 1.2 International Parking positions 1.3 Aircraft Movements 1.4 Passenger Movements 2 Military Operations 3 Airport Redevelopment 4 Airlines and Destinations 4.1 International 4.2 Domestic 4.3 Former airlines 5 References 6 External links

Terminal Statistics

Domestic Parking positions

• Jetways: 5
• No Jetway: 15

International Parking positions

• Jetways: 9
• No Jetway: 2

Aircraft Movements

• 2006 - 124,464

Passenger Movements

• 2006 - 5,455,310
• 2005 - 5,542,816
• 2004 - 4,965,502

Military Operations

Since the closure of Wigram Air Force Base, the Royal New Zealand Air Force always flies to Christchurch International Airport when required to visit the city. There are regular RNZAF flights between the main centres of New Zealand. Prior to the withdrawal of the air combat wing, the RNZAF fighter aircraft were also seen at the airport. With the development of Antarctic scientific expeditions since the 1950s, Christchurch Airport has been the base for all Antarctic flights operated by the United States Air Force and RNZAF. During the Antarctic flying season, which generally operates from August to February, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules and LC-130 Hercules aircraft are often seen on the Antarctic Apron north of the main passenger terminals. The C-5 Galaxy aircraft also makes the occasional appearance, although it has been noticeably absent in recent times. All other aircraft types except for the LC-130, which is fitted with skis for snow landing, must operate on either sea ice or blue ice runways. The C-141 Starlifter was also a regular visitor before its retirement from active service in 2005.

Airport Redevelopment

Christchurch Airport is currently under going an expansion project. The construction of the new multi-storey carpark building began in early 2006 and opened early 2007, providing 570 new premium carparks in addition to 1100 uncovered carparks. The new 45m tall Control Tower which will be positioned near the new Carpark building is due to begin construction in mid 2007. From Mid 2007 the new Check-In area and Domestic Terminal will begin to be built. The new Check-In area will be communal for both Domestic and International passengers. The new domestic terminal will consist of an additional 3 gates and 1 more baggage carousel. The old domestic terminal will be completely demolished to make way for the new terminal. All construction is expected to be completed by June 2009.^[3]

Airlines and Destinations

The following airlines fly to the airport as of June 2007:

International

• Air New Zealand (Brisbane, Gold Coast [beginning April, 2008], Melbourne, Nadi, Osaka-Kansai, Rarotonga, Sydney, Tokyo-Narita)
  • Freedom Air (Gold Coast [ending March, 2008])
• Air Pacific (Nadi) (seasonal)
• Emirates (Dubai, Sydney)
• Qantas (Sydney)
  • Jetstar Airways (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast)
• Singapore Airlines (Singapore)
• Virgin Blue
  • Pacific Blue (Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney)

Domestic

• Air Chathams (Chatham Islands)
• Air New Zealand (Auckland, Queenstown, Wellington, Rotorua)
  • Air New Zealand operated by Air Nelson (Nelson, Napier, New Plymouth, Invercargill, Tauranga)
  • Air New Zealand operated by Eagle Airways (Blenheim, Hokitika, Oamaru, Wanaka)
  • Air New Zealand operated by Mount Cook Airline (Dunedin, Hamilton, Invercargill, Palmerston North, Queenstown, Rotorua, Wellington)
• Qantas
  • Jetconnect (Auckland, Queenstown, Rotorua, Wellington [begins 2008])
• Virgin Blue
  • Pacific Blue (Auckland, Wellington)

Former airlines

• Origin Pacific Airways
• Ansett New Zealand
• Kiwi Travel International Airlines
• Korean Air
• Japan Airlines

References

1. ^ A Wheel on Each Corner, The History of the IPENZ Transportation Group 1956-2006 - Douglass, Malcolm; IPENZ Transportation Group, 2006, Page 12
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]

External links

• http://www.christchurchairport.co.nz/ - Airport website
• http://www.airportcity.co.nz/ - CIAL's commercial property website
• http://www.cac.co.nz/ - Canterbury Aero Club website

	Airports of New Zealand
Auckland | Christchurch | Dunedin | Hamilton | Invercargill | Milford Sound | Palmerston North | Rotorua | Queenstown | Wellington

This box:  •  • edit Airports of Christchurch
Christchurch International | Wigram | Forest Field