Hamilton Airport 4.83

The Hamilton Airport is an airport located 14 kilometres south of the city of Hamilton in the Waikato region, in New Zealand. It is sited at Rukuhia, which was the name of the Royal New Zealand Air Force base on that site during World War II. In the year to 30 June 2011 the airport had 316,000 domestic and 46,000 international passengers. Hamilton is the tenth-busiest airport in New Zealand by passenger traffic.HistoryAs the world prepared for war, it became clear that a landing strip needed to be constructed in the Hamilton area. By 1935, the air strip was already in service, as a stopover for military aircraft that would land after a long journey. Services provided refueling as well as food and rest for the incoming pilots.Travel by air began to blossom soon after the war was over, and, in 1950, the airport received its first commercial flight. The main runway was sealed in 1965, and turboprop flights began to Hamilton that year, with NAC's Fokker Friendship aircraft operating. The runway was further lengthened to accommodate Vickers Viscount, 1970, and ultimately Boeing 737 aircraft types in 1975.In 1989, the New Zealand government sold the airport to councils representing Hamilton city (50 per cent), Waikato district (15.625 per cent), Waipa district (15.625 per cent), Matamata-Piako district (15.625 per cent) and Otorohonga district (3.125 per cent). This development led to unprecedented growth for the airport.Ansett New Zealand built an independent passenger terminal to the south of the main building, equipping it with a 'Golden Wing Club' lounge and food vending machines. The airline's Ansett NZ division operated flights to Wellington from Hamilton from 1995 until 2000, when Ansett NZ was sold to a New Zealand business consortium and rebranded Qantas NZ, with their own New Zealand domestic flights division. Qantas NZ operated at the airport until 2001, when it went into receivership. The terminal was then occupied by Origin Pacific airlines. This airline operated domestic services until it too went bankrupt in 2004. The small terminal was then left unused.