When I joined Queenstown Airport as CEO a year ago, my top priority was to work with the Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) team, board and shareholders to set our strategic direction for the next decade.
Over the past year, QAC’s created a new vision and mission with our aspirations for the future in mind.
Our mission is to ‘proudly connect our home with New Zealand and the world’.
Our vision is to be ‘an innovative airport that people love to travel through, and the community takes pride in’.
Simple, aspirational, and authentic.
The airport is majority owned by Queenstown Lakes District Council, which, in turn, represents the residents of the district.
A year on, I’m pleased to update you on our progress, and invite your input as we bring the strategy to life through our masterplan — a long-term plan which will provide us with a spatial representation of the airport’s future.
Queenstown Airport was established by the community for the community in 1935 in its current location.
I believe Queenstown Airport’s greatest attribute and strategic value is its central location in the heart of the Southern Lakes, providing both visitors and residents with highly-convenient and efficient access to the region.
I have benefited greatly from the opportunity to talk with many people at Queenstown and across the region over the last year.
What is consistent is the view that we must plan for a sustainable future in every sense.
What I’ve heard is a strong desire for sensible long-term planning and connected, efficient infrastructure that ensures the airport connects seamlessly with ground transport connections, including improved public transport options.
There is also a clear expectation that we will enable the decarbonisation of air travel and prioritise the reduction of the airport’s carbon footprint.
All of which we are embracing.
In developing our 10-year strategic plan, three strategic pillars have emerged: resilience, experience and community.
Everything that we will achieve and the contributions we will make are encapsulated within these pillars.
One of the key decisions we have taken is to plan for moderate and sustainable growth and not to seek an expansion to the existing Queenstown Airport noise boundaries.
Advances in aircraft technology, including Air New Zealand’s introduction of NEO (new engine option) powered A320 and A321 aircraft means quieter planes flying into ZQN, which is a positive development for the community and provides the potential to manage growth in
the years ahead within our noise boundaries.
The existing terminal requires modernising so we can improve the customer experience, better reflect the unique character of the region we represent and ensure its resilience in the event of a major earthquake.
Significantly improving the sustainability and environmental efficiency of the terminal and associated operations is key to achieving our decarbonisation targets.
We have set an ambitious target to achieve carbon neutrality in the coming year and be net zero by 2040.
While the airlines and not airports report on aircraft emissions, we recognise the greatest impact we will have is by planning for and enabling the decarbonisation of air travel.
This will be integral to our masterplanning.
No one in the region needs reminding the world has fundamentally changed in the past two-and-a-half years.
Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the aviation and tourism industries in the Queenstown-Lakes, and around the world.
What it has afforded us is an opportunity to embark on our airport masterplanning in consultation with the communities of the region armed with greater depth of understanding on the future of aviation and the technology and innovation that is on the horizon.
We’re now working on our draft masterplan for ZQN — early in the new year we’ll be sharing that publicly and inviting input and feedback.
The quality of this consultation process is integral to establishing a shared future vision.
The strategic plan’s available at bit.ly/3BNXe9d
Glen Sowry is Queenstown Airport’s chief executive
