Woodbourne Airport facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Woodbourne Airport
IATA: BHE ICAO: NZWB
Summary
Airport type	Public and Military
Operator	Marlborough Airport Ltd
Location	State Highway 6, Blenheim, New Zealand
Elevation AMSL	33 m / 109 ft
Coordinates	41°31′06″S 173°52′13″E / 41.51833°S 173.87028°E / -41.51833; 173.87028
Website	www.marlboroughairport.co.nz
Map
BHE Location in New Zealand Marlborough
Runway
Runway Length Surface m ft 06R/24L 1,425 4,675 Bitumen 06L/24R 1,425 4,675 Grass 10/28 1,182 3,878 Grass
Statistics (2014)
Passenger throughput 241,173 Landings 9,399 Aircraft movements (2010) 22,829

Woodbourne Airport (IATA: BHE, ICAO: NZWB) trading as Marlborough Airport is a small, controlled airport located 8 km west of Blenheim in the Marlborough region of New Zealand, on State Highway 6, Middle Renwick Road. It is co-located with RNZAF Base Woodbourne in the Wairau Valley on the north-eastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The airport has a single terminal and 7 tarmac gates.

Marlborough Airport terminal building in 2012

Air National Jetstream 32 on the tarmac at Blenheim

RNZAF Boeing 727-100QC seen here at Blenheim, now used as an engineering training aid.

History

Woodbourne was one of the first airports in New Zealand. Today it is one of the few remaining air force bases (RNZAF Base Woodbourne) with general maintenance and initial training conducted there.

It serves as the civil airport for Blenheim. Runway 06R/24L was sealed for Fokker Friendships in 1961 and was one of the first regional airports in the country to take turboprop aircraft.

Today it has more frequent operations, with Air New Zealand using Bombardier Q300 aircraft from Auckland and Wellington. The busiest route from Blenheim remains across the Cook Strait to Wellington, 80 km to the north-east; flights take only 25 minutes. Sounds Air operates Cessna Caravan and Pilatus PC-12 aircraft from Wellington, Kapiti Coast and Christchurch.

The terminal building was renovated in 2014/15 to cope with growing passenger demand and increased use by larger aircraft types. The redevelopment included an extension of the apron along with new check-in, baggage claim facilities and extension of the departure lounge.

The airport was the 12th busiest in New Zealand during 2018, based on passenger numbers.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger