Mount Iron Aerodrome facts for kids

The Mt Iron Aerodrome was an early airport located near Wanaka, a beautiful town in New Zealand. It played an important role in the area's history, especially for tourism and travel.

Wanaka's First Airport

The original airport, sometimes called 'Pembroke', was built at the base of Mt Iron, a large, rocky hill right at the entrance to Wanaka. It was also very close to the Puzzling World Amusement Centre.

What Did It Look Like?

The airport had a compacted grass runway that was about 800 meters (about half a mile) long. It used simple day markers to guide planes. A small building served as the terminal, offering basic services for passengers.

When Was It Built?

The Mt Iron Aerodrome was first established in the 1940s. For many years, it was the main way for people to fly in and out of Wanaka.

What Was It Used For?

The airport was home to a local sightseeing airline called Aspiring Air. This airline offered amazing flights for tourists to see the stunning upper parts of Lake Wanaka and the majestic Mt Aspiring. The small airstrip also connected Wanaka to other towns like Makarora and Haast.

The planes that regularly used the airport were usually smaller types, like the Cessna 206 and the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. These planes were perfect for scenic flights and carrying a few passengers.

Why Did It Close?

In the early 1980s, tourism in Wanaka started to grow very quickly. The Mt Iron site became too small and difficult to use for several reasons:

• The town of Wanaka was expanding, getting closer to the airport.
• The nearby Mt Iron hill made it tricky for larger planes to land safely.
• Only smaller aircraft, like the Britten-Norman Islander, could safely use the runway.

These limitations meant the airport couldn't handle the increasing number of tourists and larger planes needed for a growing town.

The New Airport

Because of these challenges, a decision was made in 1984 to build a new, larger airport. This new airport was developed from Sir Tim Wallis's private airstrip in Luggate. Today, this is known as Wanaka Airport.

The old Mt Iron Aerodrome officially stopped being a public airport in 1986.

What's Left Today?

Even though it's no longer an airport, you can still see parts of the old Mt Iron Aerodrome today. However, the area is now being developed. A new road, named Sir Tim Wallace Drive, crosses over where the old terminal access road used to be.