Hood Aerodrome Charges Set To Soar
Masterton District Council has proposed hiking landing fees at Hood Aerodrome.
Consultation targeting the airport's users has now begun.
The last time charges were reviewed was 14 years ago and ratepayers were currently bearing the brunt of 92% of operational costs for the airport.
This conflicted with the council's revenue and financing policy which aimed to collect 60% of revenue from users and 40% from rates.
Infrastructure and Assets manager Maseina Koneferenisi said a review of charges was done earlier this year and that Hood Aerodrome users had benefited from no changes to the charges 'for a considerable time'.
She said the current pricing structure for landing fees was ambiguous and lacked consistency.
Revenue from users, which included landing fees and hangar leases generated about 8% of the aerodrome's operational costs.
Koneferenisi said because the aerodrome had a low utilisation rate, it would require a significant increase in charges to achieve council's target of 60% user pays.
Instead, a measured approach was recommended.
A report to council said the current annual fixed charges resulted in some users paying as little as $0.33 and others up to $10 per landing for aircraft in the same weight group.
The proposed landing charges ranged from $8.63 for microlights and bantam planes to $442.75 for an ATR 500 (a regional airliner).
Councillor Brent Goodwin said when the charges were last reviewed in 2010-11, ratepayers paid $129,000 towards the airport and now paid $552,000.
In the council's Long-Term Plan, ratepayers would be paying $1 million towards the airport's operating costs in the 2026-27 year, he said.
Councillor Marama Tuuta said she agreed with a 60% user pays model for Hood Aerodrome 'mainly because I can't afford a plane so I don't use it'.
She was however 'happy to pay for the public good' of the airport through her rates and hoped the proposal would result in more equity for Masterton ratepayers.
Councillor Tom Hullena said the council was never going to be able to cover 60% of the airport's operating costs with user-pays.
'We're certainly never going to cover it with landing fees, unless of course we get an airline that pays its own full cost and lands regularly, or we get a flight school, or we grow the number of users,' he said.
He was concerned that the proposed charges were above the New Zealand average and said it would likely be a disincentive to many of the airport's users.
'We'll never get our return from the users and I think it's a real risk if we raise the charges too much that we end up with no users.
'Our focus should be on growing this as an asset for tourism and aviation related industry and I think that's where our community is going to get the return, not through a user pays system.'
Mayor Gary Caffell said he had always viewed Hood Aerodrome as a regional facility 'and it's about time the other councils look at it as a regional facility'.
'If there is an earthquake or tsunami that strikes Wellington, it becomes such an important part of our district and whilst I know this isn't about talking the other councils into becoming more involved in sharing the costs, I think further down the track it is something we need to look at.'
The council's targeted consultation on charges began on Thursday with users who pay landing fees.
The review only applied to charges relating to aeronautical activities – property, buildings, and commercial activities were not included.
Hood Aerodrome users who have paid landing fees recently would be emailed or mailed a copy of the consultation document, which was adopted in today's extraordinary Council meeting.
The consultation would close on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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