Westport Airport (New Zealand) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Westport Airport
|
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Location | Westport, New Zealand | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 13 ft / 4 m | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°44′17″S 171°34′51″E / 41.73806°S 171.58083°E | ||||||||||
| Website | http://bullerdc.govt.nz/airport/ | ||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||
 WSZ
Location in West Coast
|
|||||||||||
| Runway | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
Source: World Aero Data [1]
|
|||||||||||
Westport Airport is a small airport located in Kawatiri, near the town of Westport in New Zealand. It uses the airport codes (IATA: WSZ, ICAO: NZWS). This airport helps people travel to and from the West Coast region.
Currently, Sounds Air is the only airline that flies regularly to Westport. They use small, nine-seat Pilatus PC-12 planes to fly passengers to Wellington. Other airlines used to fly here, like Air New Zealand (through Eagle Airways) until 2015. Another airline, Air West Coast, also offered flights to Greymouth, Christchurch, and Wellington in the past, but these flights stopped in 2008 because they were too expensive and not enough people were flying.
Contents
Airport History: How It Grew
Westport Airport has been serving travelers for a long time. Flights started as early as 1947. Back then, a company called Air Travel connected Westport to Nelson and south to Hokitika.
Early Flights and Growth
Later, NAC took over these flights. They used Dragon Rapide aircraft to fly passengers to Wellington. In March 1952, bigger planes called Douglas DC-3s began flying on the Westport-Nelson-Wellington route. The airport was getting busier! By March 1966, Westport Airport handled 7,557 passengers in one year. This was a good increase from the 6,615 passengers the year before.
Runway Upgrades
To allow even larger planes, the airport's main runway was covered with asphalt in October 1970. This upgrade meant that Friendship planes could fly to Westport six days a week. These flights came from Christchurch, stopped in Hokitika, and then continued to Nelson and Wellington. Both flights arriving from the north and those from the south would land in Westport in the afternoon. The airport building itself was updated in 2007 to make it more modern and comfortable for travelers.
Airlines and Where They Fly
Here's a quick look at the airlines that fly from Westport Airport and their destinations:
| Airlines | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Sounds Air | Wellington |
