New Zealand / Regional

New Plymouth Airport gets overhaul

17:17 pm on 10 March 2015

The New Plymouth Airport terminal is to undergo an $11 million update.

New Plymouth District Council signed off a plan today that would increase the terminal's floor area by 60 percent from 1,480m2 to 2,300m2.

It also provided for extending the runway over the next 30 years, at a cost of a further $12 million.

Council manager of property assets Peter Handcock said the terminal was built in the 1960s and designed for use by 60,000 passengers a year.

But in 2014, 343,000 passengers transited the airport, and more than 550,000 were projected by 2023.

Mr Handcock said the project would be paid for by aeronautical fees and user charges.

Construction is due to begin later this year and will take 14 months.