Queenstown Airport Noise Management FAQs

Rules governing noise from Queenstown Airport are set out in the Queenstown Lakes District Plan, which includes hours of operation for the airport, noise boundaries, and a compliance regime.

Noise boundaries are a planning tool to manage and control the impact of aircraft noise on surrounding communities. They are defined in district plans under the Resource Management Act and airport noise management plans.

Airport noise is measured using a standard called dB Ldn, which reflects the average noise level over a 24-hour period.

The airport has three noise boundaries:

• The Air Noise Boundary (ANB), also known as the inner zone, where aircraft noise exceeds 65 dB Ldn. To protect people living and working around the airport, as well as airport operations, any new activity sensitive to aircraft noise, such as accommodation, is generally prohibited in this area.
• The Mid Noise Boundary, where average aircraft noise is between 60 and 65 dB Ldn.
• The Outer Control Boundary (OCB), where average aircraft noise is between 55 and 60 dB Ldn.

The Queenstown Lakes District Plan says activity sensitive to aircraft noise (ASAN) means "any residential activity, visitor accommodation activity, homestay activity and day care facility activity, as defined in this District Plan, including all outdoor spaces associated with any education activity, but excludes activity in police stations, fire stations, courthouses, probation and detention centres, government and local government offices".

The boundaries are a calculation of the average noise over a 24-hour period (dB Ldn) based on the busiest three consecutive months of a calendar year. At Queenstown Airport, these are typically January, February and March.

There are two compliance contours – the inner Air Noise Boundary (ANB) and the Outer Control Boundary (OCB).

• Noise must not exceed 65 dB Ldn beyond the ANB.
• Noise must not exceed 55 dB Ldn beyond the OCB.

Each year, QAC supplies records of all flights for a full year from Airways and an onsite measurement tool. Marshall Day Acoustics verifies the busiest three months, then models the compliance using an international noise model. Every three years, actual noise is logged and adjustments are made to the noise profiles in the model so that it reports an accurate representation of the noise experienced at and around Queenstown.

Every year, a compliance report for the previous calendar year is produced and publsiehd. A forecast based on aircraft movement projections for the following year is included.

Queenstown Airport has a Noise Management Plan for managing and mitigating the effects of aircraft noise on the surrouding communities. The plan can be found here.

The plan covers:

• the composition of the Queenstown Airport Liaison Committee
• noise monitoring
• aircraft engine testing rules
• complaints procedures
• considerate flying practices
• noise mitigation measures.

The Queenstown Airport Liaison Committee (QALC) was formed in 2013. Its purpose is to act as a forum and interface between the Queenstown Airport Corporation, the community and other stakeholders regarding day-to-day issues related to noise at Queenstown Airport.

The committee of 11 includes an independent chairperson, four community representatives, a representative of the Queenstown Lakes District Council, a representative of Airways NZ, one airline representative, one general aviation representative and two Queenstown Airport representatives. The current membership is available here.

The community representatives are appointed by QLDC, reflecting the communities closest to the airport: Frankton, Kelvin Heights, Hanleys Farm/Jacks Point, Lake Hayes Estate/Quail Rise/Shotover Country.

The committee meets quarterly and is presented with information about noise complaints and queries from residents. It monitors how Queenstown Airport deals with those complaints, aircraft activities, and unplanned engine testing incidents. It also receives the airport's operational report, which includes updates on the Noise Mitigation Programme. The Annual Aircraft Noise Contours are reviewed by the committee.

Yes. An independent report was tabled at the Queenstown Airport Liaison Committee meeting on 24 November 2025, confirming compliance was achieved for 2024. This report will be uploaded in December 2025.

A minor breach to the south of the crosswind runway is forecast for the 2025 calendar year. This will be reportable in 2026, following completion of the compliance reporting for 2025. The anticipated breach relates to the Outer Control Boundary, not the inner Air Noise Boundary. 

The breach relates to helicopter activity and use of the crosswind runway by small fixed-wing aircraft using the crosswind runway. Outstanding flying conditions last summer contributed to record activity by the flightseeing business based at Queenstown Airport.

Scheduled flights by jets and turboprop aircraft use the main runway, and their activity remains well within the permitted noise boundaries, with capacity available for planned growth. 

Immediate steps are being taken to ensure this does not happen again. Queenstown Airport is working with general aviation operators and Airways, which manages air traffic, to reduce the use of the crosswind runway. In simple terms, about four small fixed-wing flights a day during peak season need to be moved from the crosswind runway to the main runway for future compliance.  

Small aircraft use the crosswind runway to assist with the throughput of the airfield and as required based on the weather conditions. The main runway has comparatively low utilisation because without a taxiway the larger aircraft occupy the runway for extended periods as they taxi on it for departure and after arrival. The crosswind runway helps alleviate this constraint, but ultimately, we want to enable smaller aircraft and larger aircraft to use the main runway once the taxiway is completed. 

In the short term, there will be no material effect on smaller aircraft. We plan to allocate some flights off the crosswind runway onto the main runway during quieter periods of the day. The smaller aircraft are already accustomed to operating off the main runway, so this is not a material change to the way that they operate. 

Compliance reporting for the 2025 calendar year will be completed in early 2026.  It is expected that this reporting will confirm the projected breach and be formally reported.  In parallel, QAC will undertake a report for the QALC detailing the cause of the breach and how QAC has addressed it so that the breach does not occur again.