Departure
98%
vs 95% ▲ 3
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Woodbourne Airport, trading as Marlborough Airport, is a small controlled aerodrome about eight kilometres west of Blenheim in the Wairau Valley at the north-eastern end of New Zealand's South Island. It shares its site with RNZAF Base Woodbourne and serves as the scheduled civil airport for the Marlborough region, making it a useful and historically interesting South Island destination for a VFR pilot.
Woodbourne Airport, operating commercially as Marlborough Airport, is a small controlled airport co-located with RNZAF Base Woodbourne, an active Royal New Zealand Air Force base used for general maintenance and initial training. It functions as the civil airport for Blenheim, handling scheduled domestic services with Air New Zealand, Air Chathams, Originair and Sounds Air, and is of interest to visiting pilots both for its dual civil/military character and its place as one of the earliest airports established in New Zealand.
The airport lies in the Wairau Valley on the north-eastern corner of the South Island, about eight kilometres west of Blenheim, on State Highway 6, Middle Renwick Road. It is a controlled aerodrome, and pilots inbound should expect to work Wellington Approach on 122.3 MHz or Christchurch Control on 129.4 MHz as appropriate, with the field itself worked on 122.8 MHz. Because the airfield shares its runways with the resident air force base, traffic patterns can include military as well as civil movements.
Woodbourne has three physical runway pairs. Runway 06R/24L is 4,674 feet long, has a hard (sealed) surface, and is lit. Runway 06L/24R is 4,623 feet long with a grass surface. Runway 10/28 is 3,656 feet long, also grass. Field elevation is 92 feet.
The tower and common traffic advisory frequency at Woodbourne is 122.8 MHz. ATIS information is broadcast on 126.05 MHz. For approach and transit purposes, Wellington Approach operates on 122.3 MHz and Christchurch Area Control on 129.4 MHz. The airport has no ILS approach.
Woodbourne operates as a controlled aerodrome with a tower service on 122.8 MHz, so pilots should expect to receive a specific joining and circuit clearance from air traffic control rather than following an uncontrolled-field procedure. No published circuit heights or noise-abatement restrictions are given in the available material.
The airfield sits in the Wairau Valley alongside State Highway 6 (Middle Renwick Road), roughly eight kilometres west of the town of Blenheim, and is readily identified by its co-location with the RNZAF Base Woodbourne facilities and hangars adjoining the civil terminal and apron.
Woodbourne was one of the first airports established in New Zealand and has long operated alongside the air force base of the same name. Runway 06R/24L was sealed in 1961 to take Fokker Friendship aircraft, making Woodbourne one of the first regional airports in the country able to handle turboprop types. The base remains one of the few RNZAF stations still conducting general maintenance and initial training, while the civil side of the field has grown into the principal airport for the Marlborough region.
Woodbourne continues to serve as the civil airport for Blenheim and the wider Marlborough region, with scheduled services operated by Air New Zealand, Air Chathams (seasonally), Originair and Sounds Air to destinations including Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Nelson, Palmerston North and Kapiti Coast. The passenger terminal was renovated in 2014/15, including an extended apron, check-in and baggage facilities, to cope with growing traffic and larger aircraft types. The airfield remains co-located with the active RNZAF Base Woodbourne, so visiting pilots should anticipate shared use of the airfield with military traffic.