Transport
Road
Marlborough's transport system is dominated by the main North-South State Highway 1, the East -West roads (State Highway 6 to Nelson, and 63 to the West Coast) and the main trunk rail network. This roading network provides outstanding inter-connection with the ferry terminal to the North Island, Christchurch and further South, Nelson, and the West Coast. The main highways are of a high standard.
Rail
The main South Island trunk rail line terminates at Picton, linking with the North Island through the inter-island ferries. West bound freight is transhipped at Spring Creek for inter-regional road transport to Nelson. Tranzrail operates the Coastal Pacific passenger service to Christchurch on a daily basis. Rail freight plays a significant role in key export sectors such as forestry and agricultural products.
Sea
Three InterIsland Line conventional ferries ply between Picton and Wellington carrying passenger, road, and rail vehicles. The route is also serviced by the 98m Lynx fast ferry. Approximately 1.265 million passengers and 253 000 vehicles use this service annually.
Strait Shipping offers two services to with conventional roll-on roll-off vessels providing passenger and road vehicle transport.
The Port of Picton also caters for a growing number of visiting cruise ships.
Port Shakespeare lays immediately adjacent to Port of Picton and is New Zealand’s deepest export berth of 16m at low tide. The Shakespeare Bay facility can handle Cape size ships (100,000t) versus the Panamax size ships (60,000t). As a result the facility is increasingly used by Cape ships for topping up their loads following pick up at shallower ports such as Nelson and Tauranga. The facility is strategically positioned to support the growth in output from the forestry sector which will expand five fold in the decade from 2000.
Air
AIRPORTS
Marlborough is serviced by three commercial airports, each with its own unique characteristics.
BLENHEIM AIRPORT MARLBOROUGH
Joint military/civil airfield certificated to CAA Part 139
Location 8Km west of Blenheim S41 31 12 E173 52 12
ICAO Designation NZWB
Runways Sealed 07/25 - 1425 metres x 45 metres – PCN 25
Grass 07/25 – 1425 metres x 60 metres
Grass 10/28 – 1100 metres x 90 metres
Instrument aids NDB, VOR, DME, PAPI, GPS
Lighting Full night lighting – remote switching available
Facilites Avgas, Jet A1, maintenance
Direct regular scheduled services operate from the airport to Wellington, Christchurch, Palmerston North and Auckland. The principal operators are Air New Zealand (Eagle Air), Air2There and Sounds Air. The runway is passenger jet capable. Blenheim is just 15 to 20 minutes flying time from the capital city Wellington.
Freight services operate out of the Marlborough airport around the country. No curfews are imposed.
Woodbourne is also the site of the RNZAF Number One maintenance base and the Ground Training Wing where all RNZAF recruits are trained with a special emphasis on aircraft technicians. SafeAir’s major aviation engineering facility and propeller servicing operation are based at Woodbourne.
PICTON AIRPORT
Location Koromiko, Marlborough
Contact phone +64 3 520 3099, Fax +64 3 573 5140
Hours Open all year, daylight operations only
Runways Vector 18, tarseal. Take off distance 840 metres, landing distance 670 metres
Vector 36, tarseal. Take off distance 740 metres, landing distance 780 metres.
OMAKA AERODROME
The aerodrome offers three grass runways, although any direction is used when necessary by WW1 aircraft. While both disciplined and informal in style, and uncontrolled in the circuit, Omaka’s operations benefit from being inside the Marlborough Regional Airport’s Control Zone. Traffic is a mix of Marlborough Aero Club (which owns the airfield) training and member flying in its fleet of Tomahawks, Cherokees, Cesna 172 and Tiger Moth. There is a privately owned fleet of certificated GA, home builds, vintage, warbird and a resident WW1 collection. Commercial operations include helicopters and top dressing specialists that offer innovative services to many sectors of industry. Aircraft restoration and all the associated engineering is a speciality of this community.
AVIATION HERITAGE CENTRE AND AIRPARK
The Aviation Heritage Centre development is located on 10 Ha of land adjacent to the Omaka Aerodrome. It includes an airpark providing hangar sites for both private and commercial use, with direct access onto the airfield. The Centre is home to an internationally unique collection of exotic aircraft, ranging from pre-WW1 through to the Cold-War era. The aircraft, many of which fly on a regular basis will be augmented by a globally unique collection of Great War memorabilia, as well as collections of aero engines, uniforms, photographs and documents.
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