Airport Vision has all the elements of success

30 April 2009

Airport Master Plan has all the elements of success says NZ Bus

NZ Bus CEO Bruce Emson gave his company’s endorsement to Wellington International Airport’s vision for the future as outlined in its draft 2030 Master Plan made public today.

“Wellington International Airport is a vital gateway into the Wellington region,” says Mr Emson.

“With Wellington airport planning to double its passenger numbers by 2030, it is important that planning for access to the area, and the public transport element of that plan, is well considered.  We believe the airport has it right.”

Mr Emson said that patronage of the Valley Flyer’s Airport Flyer service, which connects the Hutt Valley and Wellington city with Wellington Airport, had been steadily increasing. That trend is expected to continue in response to public transport initiatives outlined in the Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Plan.

“It’s critically important that the proposals in the Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Plan are advanced to ensure access to the airport is not compromised as the airport grows,” said Mr Emson.  “Each element of the corridor plan is critical for delivering on an efficient and robust public transport system that can cater for future growth.”

The Ngauranga to Airport Corridor Plan, developed by Greater Wellington, Wellington City Council and Transit NZ, defines a number of improvements to the transport network within the corridor running from the Ngauranga Merge, through Wellington CBD, to Newtown and on to the Eastern Suburbs and Wellington Airport. It provides for a major planned shift to passenger transport.

Mr Emson said that Valley Flyer was planning for further growth on the route and would be able to respond to incremental increases in demand in line with forecasted airport passenger growth.

“We have seen excellent growth in patronage on the Airport Flyer since the frequency of its weekday services was increased to every 20 minutes in July last year,” says Mr Emson.  “An additional 10,000 passengers travelled on the service in July 2008 compared to July 2007. Each month since then we have seen an average increase of more than 4000 passengers compared with the same month in the previous year.”

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