Source: Radio New Zealand
Wellington Airport chief executive Matt Clarke next to the completed engineered materials arresting system bed. WELLINGTON AIRPORT / SUPPLIED
Wellington Airport has installed new runway safety zones with energy absorbing blocks at the end of each runway.
It said the engineered materials arresting system (EMAS), would provide additional safety in the unlikely event an aircraft accidentally overran the runway during take-off or landing.
It also effectively extended the usable length of the runway, providing a landing distance increase of 143m and a take-off distance increase of 37m.
Wellington Airport chief executive Matt Clarke said it had been hard work, which was done mainly between 1am and 6am each night to avoid impacting flights.
He said the most complicated part of all, occurred on Monday overnight, with the final changeover involving about 80 people.
“All of our line markings had to be updated in one go, for which we used 15 line marking trucks – pretty much every crew available in the lower North Island.
“We planned and rehearsed the sequence of everything to the minute to ensure we were all set for flights to begin on the new settings from 6am this morning.”
The new runway dimensions would mean the airport was now capable of handling widebody aircraft non-stop from major hubs in Asia and North America, Clarke said, along with enabling full passenger loads on outbound services to destinations which had previously been out of reach.
But, new services were not being announced at this stage, Clarke said, however, Wellington was the largest market in Australasia that did not have a direct connection to Asia.
“The turbulence currently felt by the travel industry will settle in time and we can all look forward to celebrating the arrival of long-haul flights to the capital when the time is right.”
Each EMAS bed was about 55 by 90 metres and made up of more than 3000 individual blocks which were made in the United States and shipped to Wellington in 2025.
Preparation on the project began in April 2025, and was completed a week ahead of schedule and within the $35m budget, Clarke said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
