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Speaker 1: Wellington Airport. Now, Wellington Airport has announced it's going to

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Speaker 1: try to attract more international flights from the likes of

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles and Singapore, and it's revealed it's going to

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Speaker 1: do that in a five hundred million dollar five year

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Speaker 1: plan that includes extending the runway with these energy absorbing blocks.

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Speaker 1: Here's the chief executive, Matt Clark.

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Speaker 2: Enhancing the safety areas around the airport mean that we

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Speaker 2: can actually optimize the space that we do have and

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Speaker 2: that produces a one hundred and two meter extension to

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Speaker 2: the effective length of the runway.

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Speaker 1: Now, Catho Brian is the executive director of the Board

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Speaker 1: of Airlines Representatives and with us. Now, hey, kat, Hey,

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Speaker 1: do you reckon that there's demands in Wellington for these

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Speaker 1: longer flights.

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Speaker 3: Look, I'm not sure that there is a great demand

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Speaker 3: environment on New Zealand, despite you know, Wellington Airport doing

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Speaker 3: what is clearly the right thing and investing in some

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Speaker 3: runway safety areas.

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Speaker 1: Why do you think that there might not be the demand.

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Speaker 3: Look, if I look at air services demand for New

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Speaker 3: Zealand and total, I don't see any real growth at

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Speaker 3: the moment. So, you know, Auckland Airport is looking at

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Speaker 3: pretty much a flat scenario. You've got a little bit

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Speaker 3: of growth going to christ Church, which is great to see,

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Speaker 3: and we've got those news services coming to Hamilton next year.

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Speaker 3: But outside of that, you know, there's not a lot

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Speaker 3: out there.

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Speaker 2: Oh.

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Speaker 1: Do you think when you talk about growth, you're talking

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Speaker 1: about growth in terms of airlines wanting to add capacity.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, airlines willing to come to New Zealand and fly

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Speaker 3: more to New Zealand. Yeah, And I think you know,

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Speaker 3: one of the reasons that they that they maybe aren't

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Speaker 3: doing that is because of the increasingly high cost that

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Speaker 3: New Zealand you know, represents in terms of the destination.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I mean, is kath are they future proofing? Maybe, because

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Speaker 1: if we actually play our cards right, we will increase

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Speaker 1: demand again, won't we. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Look, I think, as I say, Wellington Airport is doing

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Speaker 3: the right thing by by looking at it safety area

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Speaker 3: around its runway and making sure it's safely operable, and

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Speaker 3: so I think that's that's a great thing. I think

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Speaker 3: whether or not that that brings us more international air

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Speaker 3: services to Wellington is another thing. I think. You know, we,

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Speaker 3: as I say, we aren't sort of seeing that really

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Speaker 3: around And I think that comes from a lot of

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Speaker 3: the costs that we're imposing on airlines who fly here.

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Speaker 1: Okay, now what about how you pay for this stuff? Right?

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Speaker 1: Are the airlines going to squeal if they are head

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Speaker 1: up for it?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Look, I mean Wellington Airport consulted with airlines as part

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Speaker 3: of its price setting process on the EMAS proposal, so

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Speaker 3: it's included in the capex. It may you know that

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Speaker 3: the cost of it may change as we roll through

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Speaker 3: the process. So airlines as is the usual way pay

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Speaker 3: for airport capex in New Zealand, and that is how

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Speaker 3: it works.

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Speaker 1: Is it not actually a good idea to bolster an

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Speaker 1: airport like this in order to be able to play

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Speaker 1: it off against Auckland Airport, given that you guys are

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Speaker 1: in such a massive fight with Auckland Airport about its costs.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I think you know, as I say, it's

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Speaker 3: good to see Wellington considering that the area around it's

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Speaker 3: runaway and making sure that it's safe. So that's a

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Speaker 3: good thing. And I think in terms of the capex spend,

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Speaker 3: it you know, pales into insignificance as we compare it

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Speaker 3: to Auckland Airport's five point nine billion dollars of aeronontical

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Speaker 3: capex that we are going to need to fund up there.

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Speaker 3: So yes, you know, the different airports have different capex profiles,

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Speaker 3: and so some airports become cheaper than others, and maybe

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Speaker 3: that's a good thing. But I think the important thing

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Speaker 3: to think about when it comes to this runway stuff

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Speaker 3: is that if the airlines are considering landing on a

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Speaker 3: runway in the world, their own civil aviation authority has

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Speaker 3: to consider whether or not that safe. And so that's

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Speaker 3: a consideration for each airline and for each you know,

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Speaker 3: international civilization.

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Speaker 1: Are you suggesting that there would be civil aviation authorities

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Speaker 1: out there who look at Wellington's plans go not safe.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think everyone has to make their own assessment, right,

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Speaker 3: and so I see from Wellington's announcement that the EMAS

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Speaker 3: will will allow any aircraft that runs off the runway

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Speaker 3: to be captured, which is a good thing, certainly better

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Speaker 3: than the water. But you know, it does say with

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Speaker 3: minimal damage, and so I think any airline with result

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Speaker 3: with a very large, expensive asset would think how much

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Speaker 3: exactly minimal damage? And you know, those are very reasonable

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Speaker 3: questions to be asking, and there will be a process

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Speaker 3: in which those questions will be asked.

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Speaker 1: Fascinating. Hey, Kat, thanks very much, appreciate it. As Kath O'Brien,

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Speaker 1: the executive director of the Board of Airlines Representatives known

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Speaker 1: as Barnes. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen

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