Queenstown Airport runway safety improvements nears half-way point

The first half of a $23-million safety improvement project at Queenstown Airport is nearing completion.

Work is ahead of schedule to install engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) beds at each end of the main runway.

Queenstown Airport operates with a minimum runway end safety area (RESA) of 90 metres, which complies with civil aviation regulations. 

The new EMAS will increase the margin of safety, providing the same protection as a 240m RESA.

The EMASMAX system chosen uses energy-absorbing cellular cement blocks that are designed to crush under the weight of an aircraft, slowing it to a stop. 

Contractors began installing the first of 1,836 pallets of blocks of between 10cm and 50cm in height and weighing up to 250kg in October.

Block laying at the Shotover end of the runway, where the construction area is equivalent in size to 20 tennis courts is expected to be finished in the next two weeks. 

Work then switches to the Frankton end, with the full project expected to be completed by March.

Main image (Supplied): The special concrete blocks being laid at the Shotover end of Queenstown Airport's runway.

“The EMAS being installed at Queenstown Airport has been designed and constructed for our fleet mix,” a Queenstown Airport spokesperson said.

“It is designed to crush under the weight of an aircraft and safely arrest the undercarriage. 

The Queenstown Airport Emergency Service will be trained to assist in the extraction of an aircraft, should an overrun ever happen here.”

To date, EMASMAX beds have safely stopped 22 aircraft – ranging in size from business jets to a Boeing 747 – with a 100% success rate. All were in the United States.