Air traffic may have one control

Press, 5 July 1986, Page 8

Air traffic may have one control

Wellington reporter Christchurch air-traffic control facilities may be threatened by a consultant’s report to the Ministry of Transport. The Director of Civil Aviation, Air: Commodore Stuart Mclntyre, said yesterday that Swedavla — a Swedish consultancy with links to the Swedish Government — had recommended one national control centre for New Zealand. The report had been commissioned by the Ministry, and would be presented to the Minister, Mr Prebble, early next month, he said. Mr Mclntyre said the proposal would replace the control units at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Ohakea with a single centre, but that

some air-traffic services to meet local needs would remain at each of these airports. Swedavia had suggested that with modern technology, one system could serve New Zealand’s present 1,150,000 aircraft

movements together with the expected 51 per cent increase by the year 2000. The cost to the year 2005 would be about $171.8 million, and was easily the cheapest of the options investigated in the report, he said.

No recommendation had been-made on where the national centre should be. Mr Mclntyre said that even if the proposal was approved, there would be at least a seven-year gap to completion. Copies of the report will be released next week at $5O a. copy.