It has been almost four decades but the Alexandra Airport runway is getting a new lease of life.

The runway - which was constructed in the 1980s - is having a new $500,000 micro-surfacing product added to lock in the chip seal and add another layer.

The Central Otago District Council has been planning to reseal the runway for years, but hold ups with Covid-19, and finding the right product delayed the project until now.

Originally budgeted at $486,000 and then almost doubling in price, property officer Tara Bates was pleased to find an alternative product ‘Steelguard’ that cut the cost in half.

HEB Construction’s asphalt crew have been specialising in the product’s application, and applying it to Central Otago roads in recent years.

The Alexandra Airport runway hasn’t been resealed since the 1980s. PHOTO: AIMEE WILSON/THE CENTRAL APP

The Alexandra Airport runway was just the second one in New Zealand to have it, after the company recently completed a reseal at Taupo. It had also been used overseas in Mumbai.

Those flying into Alexandra Airport, including the Life Flight crew which provided emergency air services, had expressed safety concerns about the deteriorating condition of the runway and damage to their turbo prop aircraft - the loose chips would get sucked into the turbine.

“The chip was getting worn and it was well overdue,” Tara said.

“It’s about future proofing and protecting our asset, making it safer for users.”

Alexandra Airport resident and aviation enthusiast Nigel Forrester said the surface itself would be a lot better for aeroplanes of all sizes.

The original chipseal had also been quite hard on tyres, he said.

The Alexandra Airport is closed for the next seven days as the reseal begins. PHOTO: AIMEE WILSON/THE CENTRAL APP

The resurfacing of the 1200m long by 30m wide chip sealed runway would take the company a full seven days to complete, and the airport was closed during this time.

A big ‘X’ at both ends of the runway informed pilots that it was off limits and the council also sent out a NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) stating Alexandra was out of action this week.

Tara said Council would not need to reseal the runway again for up to 10 years, depending on how much it was used, and Alexandra Airport was not currently a high-use facility.

But Nigel said they had been starting to get a lot more air traffic in recent months, including ‘rocket man’ Sir Peter Beck who often flew into Alexandra to stay at his holiday home in Central Otago.

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