Okiwi Airfield facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Okiwi Airfield
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| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Public | ||||||||||
| Operator | Auckland Council | ||||||||||
| Location | Great Barrier Island | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 10 ft / 3 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 36°08′47″S 175°25′08″E / 36.14639°S 175.41889°E | ||||||||||
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 NZOX
Location in New Zealand Auckland
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Okiwi Airfield (ICAO: NZOX), also known as Okiwi Station Airfield, is a small airport. It is located near the village of Okiwi on Great Barrier Island in New Zealand. This airfield has one runway made of bitumen, which is a type of paved surface. It also has a small terminal building, which looks like a wooden hut. The Auckland Council owns Okiwi Airfield. It is used for both general aviation (private planes) and special commercial flights operated by Fly My Sky.
Contents
History of Okiwi Airfield
Early Days: Grass Airstrip
When Okiwi Airfield first started, it had a runway made of grass. This grass runway often got flooded when the weather was bad. Because of the flooding, the airfield sometimes had to close for a long time. During winter, it could be closed for up to eight months!
First Airlines and Changes
The Auckland Aero Club was one of the first groups to fly planes from Okiwi Airfield. They started their services around 1971. Later, in August 1984, an airline called Great Barrier Airlines (now known as Barrier Air) began flying to Okiwi. This happened after the Auckland Aero Club stopped its flights to Great Barrier Island. They found it hard to make money from those flights.
Building a Better Runway
In November 2013, work began to make the runway better. Workers started to pave the runway with bitumen. This was done to stop the flooding problems and to attract more airlines to use the airfield. The new paved runway took six months to build. It cost about $1.5 million. The improved runway officially opened on May 2, 2014.
Current Operators
After the new runway was built, Barrier Air (which used to be Great Barrier Airlines) stopped its flights to Okiwi in 2016. Today, Fly My Sky is the only airline that flies to Okiwi Airfield. They operate flights when people need them. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fly My Sky even flew daily flights. These flights were considered an important service during that time.
Airlines and Destinations
This section shows where you can fly to from Okiwi Airfield.
| Airlines | Destinations |
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| Fly My Sky | Auckland Airport, Claris |
