Richard Pearse Airport 3.35

Richard Pearse Airport, also known as Timaru Airport, is located off the Pleasant Point HWY, 4 km north of the suburb Washdyke in Timaru, New Zealand.HistoryThe airport takes its name from the local pioneer aviator, Richard Pearse, who allegedly flew before the Wright Brothers. The airport is a small regional airport with one gate, one asphalt runway, and two grass runways. The South Canterbury Aero Club is based at the airport and frequently use the airport for training and recreational purposes. There are regular Air New Zealand Link flights to Wellington using Bombardier Q300 aircraft, formerly flights were operated to Oamaru and Christchurch. Timaru, along with Invercargill to its south, are the only two major centres without a direct air service to Auckland. Eagle Airways used to operate from Timaru to Wellington with Beechcraft 1900D aircraft.UpgradeA $1.3 million dollar upgrade was approved in November 2015 by the Timaru District Council. The upgrade would increase the current terminal space from 450 square meters to cover almost 600 square meters and would include a new luggage collection area. The upgrade was in response to the increase in capacity on Air New Zealand Link flights to Wellington using the higher capacity Bombardier Q300.