Hawke’s Bay Airport Limited (HBAL) hopes to have the entire terminal open to passengers in July, creating a seamless arrivals and departures experience. However, an exact date is yet to be determined.
HBAL chief executive Stuart Ainslie says the construction team are making good progress on the fit-out stage and the building is starting to take its final form.
“Just like our regular passengers, who have had to put up with the disruption caused by construction, the Hawke’s Bay Airport team is very keen to get the building finished.
With the New Zealand Sotherby’s International Realty Hawke’s Bay Marathon and people travelling to Australia to see family and friends after lockdown, May saw our busiest weekend since lockdown.
We’re eager to have the extra space and provide a better level of service to the growing number of passengers flowing through the terminal.
However, we can’t yet give an exact opening date due to circumstances outside our control.”
Unfortunately, like the rest of New Zealand’s construction industry, HBAL is at the mercy of global supply chain challenges due to the pandemic.
Some vital materials, such as finishing timber and fixtures for the final fit out, are taking time to arrive and for safety reasons the terminal cannot be opened to the public until those are in place.
“Our hope is that we can start to welcome and farewell our manuhiri (visitors) in the new building in July.
The final design elements are coming together that will tell our stories and when locals return from being away – they will really feel like they are coming home,” Mr Ainslie says.
Over the next few weeks, Hawke’s Bay Airport will be revealing what the new terminal will have to offer and Mr Ainslie is sure local passengers will feel the wait has been worth it.
To get an indication of the spaces in the new terminal, people can view a fly-through at this link https://bit.ly/2QzPAvg
“While the fly through gives a sense of scale in the new central terminal, from the reaction we’ve had from stakeholders who‘ve been through the site, we’re confident this building will wow people well beyond what we had in mind at the start of this project.”
“The value our partners, such as Mana Ahuriri, EIT, BayEspresso and others have contributed to this project has made the new Hawke’s Bay Airport a distinctly Hawke’s Bay waharoa (gateway) for our region that we can all be proud of,” Mr Ainslie says.