Wanaka Airport

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Wanaka Airport (IATA: WKA, ICAO: NZWF) is an airport serving the resort town of Wanaka in Otago, New Zealand. The airport currently has no scheduled commercial flights, with Air New Zealand having ceased flights to the airport in 2013, but it serves as a base for scenic and charter flights to destinations such as Milford Sound and Mount Aspiring National Park.

The Airport is located beside State Highway 6, on a plateau above the small village of Luggate, and is 10 km south-east of Wanaka township. It was originally a private airstrip owned by Tim Wallis, but in 1985 it became the main commercial airport for Wanaka, replacing Mt Iron Aerodrome.

The Warbirds over Wanaka air show has been held biennially at the airport since 1988, regularly attracting crowds of more than 50,000 people. Other attractions, including the National Transport and Toy Museum and the Warbirds & Wheels Museum, are also located at the airport.

Scenic and charter operators are the main commercial users of the airport, and include Aspiring Air, Glenorchy Air and Southernalpsair. There are also extensive skydiving and helicopter operations, and a large number of general aviation aircraft are based at the airport.

Although scheduled services have been withdrawn, Air New Zealand operates limited charter services to the airport during air show weekends.

The runway's Pavement Classification Number (PCN) value is too low to cope with heavier aircraft, and the length of the runway prevents certain aircraft from using the airport. However, the airport has consent rights to extend the current runway westward by 500 meters, with an additional 240 meters for standard overrun requirements.

The size of the terminal limits the passenger capacity of aircraft serving the airport; larger aircraft (such as Dash8-Q300 and ATR 72) are still able to operate into the airport, but the airport's facilities are not designed to cope with the larger number of the passengers these aircraft carry.

The lack of a VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) beacon at the airport poses an issue, as few aircraft have appropriate GPS systems to enable non-precision instrument approaches in bad weather.

The airport resides at an elevation of 1,142 feet (348 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 11/29 with asphalt surface measuring 3,937 feet (1,200 m) in length. There are also 2 grass surface runways located in the vicinity of the Wanaka Airport.