For the airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, see Hamilton/John C. Munro International Airport.
The Hamilton International Airport (IATA code: HLZ) is a jetport located in the Waikato region, in New Zealand.
History
As the world prepared for World War II, it became clear that a landing strip had to be built in the Hamilton area. By 1935, the air strip was already in service, as a stop over for war airplanes that would land after a long journey. Services included refueling as well as food and rest for the incoming pilots.
Tourism by air began to blossom soon after the war was over, and, in 1950, the airport received its first commercial flight.
In 1988, one of the airport's runways was expanded, to accommodate the increasing number of international flights coming from Australia
In 1989, the New Zealand government sold the airport to five private parties. This would prove to be an important deal in the airport's history, as unprecedented growth began for the airport after that.
1994 marked the first year in which the airport became involved in the now famous Trans Tasman air routes, with charter flights provided on Boeing 757s by Kiwi International Airlines of New Zealand, not to be confused with the United States based Kiwi International Airlines. New Zealand's Kiwi, however, went bankrupt in 1996, but, by that time, another airline, Freedom Air, had begun flying the same route with Boeing 737 aircraft. Freedomair ultimately decided to make Hamilton International Airport their company hub.
In 1995, a domestic terminal was opened, to respond to passenger demand for flights from Auckland and vice-versa. Ansett, with their Ansett NZ division, operated flights to Auckland from Hamilton from then and until 2000, when the Ansett flights were overtaken by Qantas, with their own New Zealand domestic flights division. Qantas NZ operated at the airport until 2004. Currently, a number of airlines fly the route.
In 1996, the airport's main terminal was expanded, in hopes of attracting more international airlines.
Hugh McCarroll became the airport's chief operating manager in the early 2000s.
Capabilities
Currently, the airport can accommodate many different types of jets, including Airbus A300's, as well as the Boeing 737 and 757's. The largest airplanes that are authorized to land at Hamilton are Boeing 767's, which are decisively smaller than the Boeing 747's or A340's, for example.
The airport operates twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
Airlines
Domestic services
International services
- Freedom Air (to Brisbane, Fiji, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney).