'Third world': Airline group asks Auckland Airport to explain runway spending
Thursday, 20 February 2020
A $48 million investment Auckland International Airport said it made on its runway has been brought into question by an airline group representing Air New Zealand and Qantas.
Airlines for Australia and New Zealand, which advocates for airlines on both sides of the Tasman said the investment the airport said it had made on runway pavement replacement and airfield maintenance between 2015 and 2019 appeared to be $15m overstated.
Group chairman Graeme Samuel claimed that, based on the airport's own information disclosures, it had spent just $33m in runway slab replacement over the last five years.
'Where is the additional $15m they claim to have spent?' he said.
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On Wednesday the airport released details of an internal review it conducted into two unscheduled runway closures in recent weeks in order to carry out urgent repairs.
Shareholder returns in the 2019 financial year were $269m while travellers to New Zealand 'continue to experience third world infrastructure,' Samuel said.
An Auckland Airport spokeswoman said claims that the airport had underinvested in aeronautical infrastructure were 'completely unfounded'.
'The figures we have provided are accurate,' she said.
Between 2015 and 2019, $48m was spent on pavement replacement and airfield maintenance, she said.
A source earlier said photos of cracks in concrete slabs were shown at an emergency response meeting the airport held with airlines shortly before the second unscheduled closure.
The airport said it was too slow carrying out urgent maintenance on its runway and apologised to customers.
Samuel said airports set prices for airlines every five years, based on promised capital and operational costs.
Auckland Airport had underspent on forecast runway investment, he claimed, 'whilst still charging airlines'.
The airport spokeswoman said that in the five years to 2017 the airport spent 80 per cent more on aeronautical infrastructure investment than forecast, but spending fluctuated from year to year.