Airport closed by crack

Authorities were forced to close Blenheim Airport yesterday when a crack was found in its ageing runway, disrupting air travel for about 45 minutes.

Airport manager Dean Heiford said the airport closed at 11.40am and reopened at 12.25pm.

Neither he nor Air New Zealand was able to confirm how many flights were disrupted.

Air New Zealand operates flights out of the airport through its subsidiary Eagle Air, while other smaller airlines also use the airport.

Mr Heiford said the crack was fixed quickly as Fulton Hogan contractors were already at the airport doing tests ahead of their tender for the runway resealing project.

The runway is the subject of a $2.5-million resealing project, expected to begin next month. The successful tender will be announced next week.

Mr Heiford said the cause of the crack was not known, but could have been because of the heat or water getting into the seal.

"It was in our usual problem area," he said.

"That's why we're doing this (resealing), because it's happening all the time and it's costing us money."

- © Fairfax NZ News

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