Queenstown Airport

Queenstown Airport (IATA: ZQN, ICAO: NZQN) is located in Frankton, Otago, New Zealand, and serves the resort town of Queenstown. The airport is 8 km (5.0 mi) or a 10-minute drive from the Queenstown CBD. The airport handled 1.4 million airline-scheduled passengers for the year ending June 2015, with passenger numbers still growing rapidly. At present it is the fourth busiest airport in New Zealand by passenger traffic. The airport has a single-level terminal building with 9 tarmac/ramp gates and all passengers disembark onto the tarmac (the airport does not use airbridges/jetways).

History

Queenstown Airport was first licensed to operate in 1935, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that commercial flights became commonplace, particularly commercial ‘flightseeing’ operations to Milford Sound. A regular scenic route between Queenstown and Milford Sound was first established by Southern Scenic Air Services Ltd in August 1951. Mount Cook Airline was the pioneer of tourist flights into Queenstown.

Queenstown Airport (disambiguation)

Queenstown Airport may refer to:

Queenstown Airport, Tasmania

The Queenstown Airport (IATA: UEE, ICAO: YQNS) (also known as Howard's Plains aerodrome, Queenstown aerodrome, Queenstown Air Strip, or Queenstown landing ground) is a former airport, now an unregistered landing ground located at Howards Plains west of Queenstown, Tasmania, Australia.

Early proposals and debates

The provision of an aerodrome in the 1930s had been a topical point of debate in Queenstown, and moves to construct

The aerodrome was constructed in the late 1930s from funding from the Commonwealth government for municipal aerodromes

It was in use the 1937, but not without difficulties being encountered

Early proposals of regular passenger services to the aerodrome were made in the late 1940s and early 1950s

However upgrades and improvements were noted in 1940 to be required for the aerodrome to be licensed for passenger traffic

It is claimed the first passenger landed at the aerodrome in 1946

In 1950 serious doubts were being addressed about the unreliable weather conditions at the aerodrome However, in 1953, there was a serious proposal to promote the license for the aerodrome for emergency medical transport