NEW ZEALAND. International engineering/environmental company URS has been appointed by Environment Bay of Plenty (EBOP) to conduct a feasibility study into the development of a single regional airport for the Bay of Plenty region.
EBOP is the regional government for the Bay of Plenty region in the north-east of New Zealand’s North Island.
The objective of the study is to assess whether the Bay of Plenty region would be better served by a single regional airport rather than the continuation of the current situation whereby three airports – Tauranga, Rotorua and Whakatane – service the Bay of Plenty separately.
Commenting on the appointment, URS’ Senior Principal and leader of its Air Transportation Practice in the Asia-Pacific region Ivo Favotto said: “URS is delighted to be involved in this project.”
The Bay of Plenty region includes some of New Zealand’s fastest-growing urban areas and a number of its best, internationally-renowned tourism attractions.
Favotto added: “Ensuring the region has the most appropriate and cost-effective airport infrastructure is a critical part of the region’s continued prosperity and growth.”
The project will involve consultation with regional and local government and existing airport operators as well as industry and community stakeholders.
“One result of the study will be to determine if the region would be better off with one airport servicing the entire region than with the current situation of three smaller airports serving sub-regional areas,” Favotto said.
URS have had recent success with Dunedin and Queenstown Airports, as well as conducting a capability audit of the New Zealand aviation industry for New Zealand Trade & Enterprise. Favotto concluded “This project cements URS as one of the leading airport consultants currently in New Zealand.”
Note: Ivo Favotto is also the author of the acclaimed Airport Retail Study, published every two years. He has just begun work on the 2006 edition. Airports wanting to participate in the next edition should contact him by e-mail at Ivo_Favotto@URSCorp.com. The publication comes highly recommended by The Moodie Report.
Background on URS: URS Australia Pty is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the URS Corporation, one of the largest multidisciplinary engineering and environmental services companies in the world. URS employs 26,000 staff worldwide in 320 offices in some 38 countries. URS Australia employs approximately 700 staff in its 11 offices, located both in the capital cities and in other regional centres. The headquarters for URS Asia Pacific is in Sydney.
