Mayor Nadine Taylor flew Marlborough’s flag at the Air New Zealand Mayoral Forum held in Auckland recently.

This year the annual get together hosted by New Zealand’s national carrier included a panel discussion where Mayor Taylor sat alongside Nelson Mayor Nick Smith and Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell.

“The forum gives invited mayors with airports in their province a chance to share key regional issues with the airline’s leadership group including CEO Greg Foran and hear updates from Air New Zealand’s leadership in return,” Mayor Taylor said.

“It was a great platform for me to be able to share the incredible work already being done in the aviation and aerospace sector in Marlborough as well as to speak to the key issues facing our region,” she said.

Marlborough Airport Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Council and it is a core piece of regional infrastructure along with Port Marlborough NZ Limited, also 100 per cent owned by Council. Mayor Taylor said it was critical Council had this strategic stake in the transport connectivity of the region whether it be for the purposes of visiting friends and family, freight, tourism or in emergencies.

Marlborough Airport saw 318,500 passenger movements last year, a bumper year after recovering from three years of fewer travellers due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Mayor Taylor said she was keen to see Marlborough become a centre of excellence for aviation and aerospace.

“Next year, the public will begin to see the tangible investments that Council is making to prepare for the future with a significant runway reseal project,” she said.

“And we continue to lead in aviation firsts with our partnership with Air New Zealand and Wellington Airport to trial an electric aircraft to replace its Q300 domestic fleet. Electric is part of Marlborough’s aviation future, and we are very excited to be part of this first for New Zealand.”