Milford Sound Airport

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Milford Sound Airport
Milford Sound Airport -from an aircraft-18Feb2008.jpg
Milford Sound Airport as seen from an aircraft
Summary
Airport typePublic
Operator Ministry of Transport
Serves Milford Sound
Location Milford Sound
Elevation  AMSL 3 m / 10 ft
Coordinates 44°40′24″S167°55′24″E / 44.67333°S 167.92333°E / -44.67333; 167.92333
Runways
Direction LengthSurface
mft
11/297822,565 Asphalt

Milford Sound Airport( IATA : MFN, ICAO : NZMF) is a small but very busy (in terms of flight movements) airport in Milford Sound, in New Zealand's Fiordland region of the South Island. It is mainly used by tourist / flightseeing operators.

Contents

Location

The Airport is located in the village Milford Sound located at the head of the fiord Milford Sound. It serves the Milford Sound tourism industry including boats, kayaks, Milford Track, as well as the fishing boats based at Milford Sound. It stands at the head of the fiord at the junction of the Cleddau and Arthur rivers.

History

On 17 November 1938, a Southland Airways Puss Moth piloted by Arthur Bradshaw made the first landing in at Milford Sound. However, any further development for air operations into the Fiord was delayed by World War II. Post war pilot Fred 'Popeye' Lucas was the next to land an aircraft in Milford. He landed on the sand spit in his Southern Scenic Airtrips Auster on 22 August 1951. This then sparked the addition of an airstrip for use by his company to expand tourism into Milford Sound. An airstrip was constructed, initially 550 yards (503 metres) in length with the first official landing achieved in May 1952.[ citation needed ]

Over the years the airstrip has been upgraded and lengthened till today's sealed strip of 792 metres. In order for Southern Scenic Airtrips and National Airways Corporation (NAC) to be able to fly the larger twin-engine aircraft into the area the airstrip became officially licensed in 1956.[ citation needed ]

Prior to the ability of air operations, Milford Sound had no access in the winter months as the roads became impassable. With the addition of the airstrip, it was recorded that by 1964 more than 400 tourists were taking the 'Gateway to Magnificence Experience' flight to Milford Sound each month at peak holiday time. [1]

Activity

A view of Milford Sound Airport from a Glenorchy Air GA8 aircraft Milford Airport.jpg
A view of Milford Sound Airport from a Glenorchy Air GA8 aircraft
The Flight Service building at Milford Sound Milford Sound Airport terminal.jpg
The Flight Service building at Milford Sound

Weather permitting, there is substantial daily charter traffic of light aircraft (mostly Cessna Caravan and GA8 Airvan) to and from Queenstown and Wānaka. Helicopters are also very active. The New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority publishes a GAP (Good Aviation Practices) document for flying to/from Milford Sound Airport. [2]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Fiordland [3] Queenstown, Te Anau, Wānaka
Air Milford Queenstown
Air Safaris [4] Lake Tekapo
Aspiring Helicopters [5] Wānaka
Fly Fiordland [3] Glenorchy Aerodrome, Martins Bay, Te Anau
Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters [6] Queenstown
Glenorchy Air [7] Glenorchy Airport, Queenstown
Milford Flights [8] Queenstown
Milford Sound Flightseeing [9] Queenstown
Southern Alps Air Wānaka
True South Flights [10] Queenstown

Milford Sound Helicopters [11] is based at the airport.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ 'Taking Off-Pioneering Small Airlines of New Zealand 1945–1970' Published 2003, Richard Waugh with Bruce Gavin, Peter Layne & Graeme McConnell, Pages 16–36
  2. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. 1 2 "Fly Fiordland". Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "Air Safaries". Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  5. ↑ "Aspiring Helicopters" . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters" . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  7. ↑ Glenorchy Air. "Milford Sound, Glaciers". Archived from the original on 11 April 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  8. ↑ "Milford Flights" . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  9. ↑ Milford Sound Flightseeing Archived 13 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "True South" . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "Milford Sound Helicopters". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 14 August 2007.

44°40′24″S167°55′24″E / 44.67333°S 167.92333°E / -44.67333; 167.92333

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