Palmerston North Airport guide

Palmerston North Airport lies on Airport Drive, about 5.5 km northeast of the city centre, on a site of roughly 208 hectares. A grass airfield was created there in 1931, and scheduled commercial flights began in 1936. The company that runs it, Palmerston North Airport Limited, bought the airport business on 30 January 1990.

Palmerston North City Council owns the company outright, and it operates as a council-controlled organisation. The sealed runway, 07/25, is 1,902 m long. A parallel grass strip of about 600 m is used for general aviation and pilot training. The airport carried 534,651 passengers in the year to 30 June 2023.

Air New Zealand flies to Auckland and Christchurch, and Originair serves Nelson, Blenheim and Christchurch. Freight is a growing part of the business. Parcelair and Texel Air run cargo flights, and Freightways has leased a warehouse at the Ruapehu Aeropark business park beside the airfield. A NZ$43.4 million replacement terminal is under construction in stages, and services have moved to accommodate the works.