Wellington International Airport withdraws application to extend runway

Wellington International Airport withdrew its application to extend its runway due to a delay in the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand's (CAA) review into the runway's proposed Runway End Safety Areas (RESA) (Scoop, 11-Apr-2019). The airport was due to present the CAA's review at the Environment Court in May-2019, which has been considering the extension since 2016. Wellington Airport stated: "The CAA has recently advised Wellington Airport that an updated modelling tool for RESA configuration is emerging internationally and that it should consider applying that methodology to its RESA proposal. This need to update the RESA proposal will therefore delay the process". The airport now plans to reapply for development consent in early 2020.