Queenstown Airport’s draft Master Plan has attracted widespread interest and a broad range of feedback from the community.

The draft plan, which was released on 24 May, proposes a series of improvements focusing on safety, resilience, efficiency, and customer experience. It also allocates space to enable and support the decarbonisation of aviation and to protect options to meet the community’s future needs.

Community consultation, which was conducted in partnership with the Queenstown Lakes District Council, closed on Friday (23 June). A multi-channel approach was used to maximise community reach and visibility, providing several ways to participate and give feedback both in person across the district and digitally.

More than 230 submissions were made through QLDC’s Let’s Talk platform and other feedback was gathered at public information sessions and meetings with community organisations. A video introducing the draft plan has been viewed more than 2,200 times.

Queenstown Airport Chief Executive Glen Sowry said he and his team had taken every opportunity to discuss the plan with residents’ associations, business organisations and other community groups.

“I’d like to thank those who have participated in the community consultation and provided us with their feedback. It is really important that we hear as diverse a range of opinions as possible and use that to create a final Master Plan for an airport that is future-ready, proactive about climate change, and continues to contribute to the social and economic wellbeing of the region over the long term.

“We are mindful of the importance of balancing aeronautical activity with both the capacity of regional infrastructure and preserving what makes the region a special place to live, work and visit.”

Queenstown Airport is also consulting iwi and is gathering feedback from ZQN airport stakeholders and users.

A full engagement report will be released in August. All the feedback received through the QLDC/QAC consultation on Let’s Talk will be made public, with appropriate privacy protections in place.

A final Master Plan will be delivered to shareholders for consideration later in the year.