Review Recommends No Change to Level of Air Traffic Control

General Manager of Invercargill Airport Ltd, Nigel Finnerty, said the comprehensive study was undertaken by Astral Aviation Consultants in association with Melbourne based R2A Due Diligence Engineers & Risk Assessors.

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‘We sought the best professional advice in order to understand what level of Air Traffic management would be required in the future,’ he said. ‘The review recommended that the current level of air traffic control will deliver the safest outcomes to aviation users at Invercargill Airport. It clearly supports no change to the current delivery model and further, states that relying on pilot self-separation, even if enhanced with other technological options, will deliver a less safe aeronautical operation.’

Mr Finnerty said Airways Corporation NZ had said in May last year that they were going to withdraw Air Traffic Control (ATC) services or airfield flight information services from seven airports, including Invercargill, across New Zealand. At the time, no date had been set for the service withdrawal.

As a result, and taking into consideration the significance of the proposed withdrawal and its potential impact on the safe operations at the airport, a formal ‘Aeronautical Study’ was required. This was in accordance with the current aviation rules, Mr Finnerty said.

The review was comprehensive and looked at the complexity and use of the airspace as well as providing recommendations for the level of Air Traffic Management that should be used to ensure aviation operations were safe for all aircraft. The study team had engaged with as many of the airport’s stakeholders as possible to gauge their views on how air space around the airport should be managed safely in the future.

The Chair of the Invercargill Airport Ltd Board Grant Lilly said the Board had carefully and fully considered the report and agreed fully with its recommendations. He said that the report and its recommendations had been passed to the Civil Aviation Authority for their review and final decision on the level of future Air Traffic Management at Invercargill. The CAA review will take place in the first quarter of 2021.