Council explores opportunities for Ōamaru Airport’s future
Published on 15 September 2026
Waitaki District Council has taken an important step toward exploring additional opportunities at Oamaru Airport with a focus on bringing economic and community benefit to the district and help make the airport more financially sustainable, reducing pressure on rates for local communities.
At today’s council meeting, Council approved the Ōamaru Airport Strategy and Development Business Plan, enabling officers to begin implementing the Ōamaru Airport Masterplan and investigate a pathway toward a more commercially sustainable operating model that produces more benefit to Waitaki’s economies and communities.
The plan recognises the airport’s important community role, including emergency response, medical evacuation and civil defence responsibilities, while also seeking ways for the facility to contribute more strongly to the district’s economy.
Council says any commercial opportunities would need to support, not undermine, the airport’s core community functions and long-term value to Waitaki.
Importantly, the document does not approve individual development projects or commit Council to major capital expenditure. Instead, it allows staff to explore a range of potential commercial opportunities and report back before any significant decisions are made.
Historically, Ōamaru Airport has not fully recovered its operating costs. The Masterplan aims to improve the airport’s financial performance, with the minimum goal of achieving financial sustainability over time, whilst delivering more benefit to the District
Potential opportunities to be explored include:
- Tourism and aviation-related services
- Cruise ship tourism integration
- Tourism product development
- Fly-in fly-out operations
- Aviation-linked logistics and freight opportunities
- E-commerce distribution opportunities
- Aerospace and advanced aviation sector opportunities
- Non-aviation commercial uses, including renewable energy and selected retail opportunities
Deputy Mayor Rebecca Ryan sought reassurance that any future proposal involving a change in land use, including the potential conversion of farmland to a higher-value use, would be carefully assessed to ensure it was sustainable and did not create irreversible impacts.
Airport Manager Matt Sisson said any proposal taken forward would be subject to appropriate due diligence, with business cases developed to assess feasibility, costs, benefits, risks and long-term value before any decisions were made.
Chief Executive Alex Parmley said that, with the rates cap looming, Council needed to make the most of appropriate commercial opportunities if it was to retain valued services for the district.
“If we want to protect the services our communities rely on, our facilities need to work harder and, where possible, pay their way,” Mr Parmley said. “Otherwise, there is a real risk that some services could reduce or be lost to the district over time.”
He said a wider commercialisation strategy was also being developed to consider opportunities across Council-owned facilities, parks and grounds.
“Commercialisation is about how we can protect services and deliver for our community in an increasingly constrained financial environment. It is not the answer on its own, but part of the answer with a firm focus on public value to our community. Council intends to work with the community as options are explored, ensuring people have the opportunity to understand the proposals, ask questions and provide feedback before any major decisions are made,” he said.
Staff will now progress development of identified opportunities and report back to Council with due diligence, business cases and recommendations before any individual proposal is considered for approval.