Cash-strapped councils finally get the runway flexibility carriers actually need

The rule that stopped Masterton before it started

For years, regional airports have been on the losing end of a regulatory quirk that few outside the sector understood. From 31 August 2026, that changes. The Government is overhauling Civil Aviation Rule Part 139, scrapping the requirement for runway end safety areas (RESAs) of as close as possible to 240 metres at the ends of runways used by aircraft with more than 30 seats, and replacing it with shorter, more flexible requirements aligned to international ICAO standards.

That 30-seat threshold caught exactly the turboprops regional carriers actually fly. Air Chathams runs the 68-seat ATR72 and 34-seat Saab 340, both squarely inside it. Chief executive Duane Emeny gave the clearest example of what the old rule cost. Air Chathams had been talking to the district council about restarting regional services to Masterton, he said, “but unfortunately we hit that roadblock.” The 240m safety area made the necessary runway modifications either physically impractical or too expensive for the council to justify.

Why the old rule was indefensible

The CAA’s own regulatory paper was blunt about the problem. The 240m figure differed from ICAO Annex 14 recommendations, which calibrate RESA lengths to aerodrome codes rather than applying one blanket standard. The wording relied on an undefined notion of what was “practicable,” creating legal uncertainty for operators who could not be sure whether a shorter RESA would be accepted or challenged. And there was no explicit allowance for Engineered Materials Arresting Systems, the crushable safety beds installed at runway ends that are recognised internationally as a safety equivalent. Those are now formally permitted, shrinking the physical footprint an upgrade demands.

Emeny noted that Associate Transport Minister James Meager had encouraged the sector to flag “some of the dumb rules”. This one, he said, was “definitely top of the list.”

A commercial lever, not just a safety tweak

The change does two things. It removes an obstacle for councils weighing runway investment, and it improves the underlying economics of thin routes. Sunair chief executive Doug Roberts put the second point plainly. By trimming the RESA requirement, “you are actually increasing the effective operating length of the runway, which can allow for greater payloads.” More payload per flight means more freight or passengers carried on routes that only just wash their face today.

For councils that own airport assets, this is capital planning made simpler. The old rule could turn a runway upgrade into a project needing land acquisition and earthworks for a 240m safety zone. The new rule can make the same upgrade commercially viable. That is the difference between a council attracting a carrier and merely pleading for one.

The win arrives in a bruised sector

This is genuine good news, but nobody should pretend it rescues regional aviation on its own. The network sold 1.5 million fewer seats in 2024 than in 2019, roughly 170 fewer flights a week. Route withdrawals have piled up, and in 2025 operators warned it had become more attractive to sell aircraft internationally than keep flying New Zealand services. That prompted the Government’s $30 million in concessionary loans to seven small carriers in August 2025.

The cost headwinds have not eased. In 2025, BARNZ executive director Cath O’Brien told RNZ that Civil Aviation levies were up, Airways costs had risen up to 21 percent, and Auckland Airport prices for regional airlines climbed 60 percent between 2023 and 2024. The domestic safety levy more than doubled from $1.60 to $3.92 per passenger from July 2025. Airways is now seeking a further 7.7% annual increase over three years. In a user-pays system where government subsidises little, every charge lands hard on marginal routes.

What to watch

The first real test is Masterton. If a carrier and a council can now proceed where the RESA rule once stopped them, the reform will have earned its billing. The risk is that freed capital gets swallowed by rising levies and Airways charges rather than funnelled into new routes. Broader reform, including possible Commerce Act changes to police major airport capital spending, remains unfinished. But for once, a regulator has removed a barrier instead of adding one, and regional airports have a lever they can actually pull.

Sources

• New airport runway rules could boost regional airports; airlines hope for new routes, savings (2026-08-06)
• Proposed amendments to Civil Aviation Rule Part 139 (2026-04-13)
• Airways NZ extends price hike feedback time after complaints from airlines, airports (2026-08-06)
• Government announces $30 million loans to small airlines to support regional routes, approves funding for interlining (2025-08-31)
• The price of flying: ‘Everywhere you look, costs are increasing’ (2025-07-22)