Wānaka Airport is owned by the Queenstown Lakes District Council. (File photo)
The High Court has cancelled a 100-year lease over Wānaka Airport that Queenstown Lakes District Council granted to the Queenstown Airport Corporation, saying it was unlawful. A judgment from Justice Van Bohemen, released on Wednesday, found that the council’s decision to award the lease “was not a fair reflection” of what was proposed when the council carried out its consultation process. The court also ruled that the decision to grant the lease could only be made during the council’s long-term plan. These were breaches of the Local Government Act, the judgment said.
Or rather Queenstown Airport is ready to receive.
After more than a year of crippling financial uncertainty for many businesses in the once buzzing tourist resort, there is light at the end of the border closed tunnel.
Photo: 123rf
The first trans-Tasman bubble flight is due to land in Queenstown this afternoon (about 2pm, though could be earlier) and Queenstowners are . cautiously optimistic.
While there will be a celebratory mood at the airport to welcome the flight, including the district mayor Jim Boult, operators in town are striking a more cautious approach.
There s relief to be sure and excitement but there s a hesitation too. This flight does not signal the end but the start of a new journey, one that will hopefully peak with the ski season.
Mountain Scene
April 8, 2021
By TRACEY ROXBURGH
Queenstown Airport’s board of directors are on the hunt for a new CEO following Colin Keel’s resignation yesterday.
Keel, who started with the airport five years ago, says it’s been a ‘‘privilege’’ to lead the business over ‘‘such a period of change’’.
He’ll stay in the job until the end of the current financial year to complete the ‘‘stabilisation of the business’’ and position it for recovery before he relocates to Auckland.
Queenstown Airport Corporation chairwoman Adrienne Young-Cooper yesterday recognised Keel’s significant contribution to the airport company and its shareholders through both periods of exponential growth and, more recently, Covid-19.
Queenstown Airport chief executive resigns after five years stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Increasing tourism numbers in Central Otago have to lead to debate around air travel in the region. (Video first published in October 2018) Keel had shown agility and courage and made a significant contribution to the business and its shareholders, Young-Cooper said. “He has been unfailing in his commitment to the success of QAC, and the broader airport community as well as the place of Queenstown and Wānaka airports in the region,” she said. According to airport documents, Keel was paid a salary of between $570,000 and $580,000 in the financial year ending June 2020, making him the highest paid chief executive of a public company in the region.