With a catchment of around 482,000 people Hamilton Airport boasts the fourth longest commercial runway in the country and provides travellers with a waharoa (gateway) to the central North Island.
Community
The airport itself is surrounded by a vibrant aviation community which includes pilot training organisations, helicopter operators, aircraft manufacturers and aviation maintenance businesses.
Commercial
There are also various commercial opportunities at and around the airport including Titanium Park – the 75 hectare mixed use industrial and commercial business, as well as airport property leases and advertising opportunities.
Council
Hamilton Airport is owned by five local councils including Hamilton City, Waikato District, Matamata-Piako District, Waipa District and Otorohanga District.
Our people: Board of Directors
Hamilton Airport is governed by a Board of Directors who are independent business people appointed by the Shareholders. The Board of Directors appoints and works closely with the Group Chief Executive and Group General Manager - Operations, who are responsible for the daily management of the airport.
Board members
Chairman: Barry Harris
Directors: Gus Gilmore, Renae Smart, Anna Cassels-Brown, Peter Stubbs, Rachel Winder
Our people:
Airport management team
Group Chief Executive: Mark Morgan
Group General Manager - Finance & Commercial: Scott Kendall
Group General Manager - Airport Operations: Ben Langley
To contact the management team, call + 64 7 848 9027 or click here.
Airport history
Prior to 1935 the airport started out as a "flying paddock", later serving as a maintenance base for aircraft during World War II before scheduled domestic passenger services commenced in the early 1950s.
Waikato Regional Airport Limited was formed in 1989 when the airport was sold by the crown to five local council authorities – Hamilton City Council, Waipa, Waikato, Matamata-Piako and Otorohanga District Councils.
Hamilton Airport has grown rapidly since then with the introduction of international operations in 1996 and extensions to the terminal building and runway to cater for increased services.
In the last ten years over one million people have flown internationally through Hamilton Airport and 2.7 million have flown domestically.
Domestic services
The airport began domestic services in the early 1950s. A further domestic terminal was built in 1995 when Ansett NZ commenced scheduled services from Hamilton Airport.
Qantas NZ took over the Ansett operation in September 2000 and closed in April 2001. Origin Pacific was operating daily services to Nelson until August 2006.
Today, Air New Zealand, Originair and Sunair Aviation offer domestic travel connections to destinations throughout NZ.
Trans-Tasman airline operations
International services began in 1994 when Kiwi International conducted a series of charter flights. They went on to run scheduled flights from April 1995 to September 1996.
Freedom Air International provided trans-Tasman flights from December 1995 until April 2008 when parent company Air New Zealand took over these services. These services to Australia concluded in late April 2009. Pacific Blue commenced services in September 2009 and provided travellers with four direct services a week to Brisbane, Australia and connections to Asia and beyond. Services were suspended in October 2012.
General aviation/industrial development
The western precinct of the airfield is the base for a large range of aviation businesses, including aircraft maintenance, manufacturing and painting specialists.
Businesses operating on this industrial precinct include:
Waikato Aero Club
Super Air
Avia Air Charter
Phillips Search & Rescue Trust
Helicorp
Menzies
Rotor-Craft
Oceania Aviation
Alpha Aviation
Flight Structures
