A major project to increase airfield safety at Queenstown Airport will start in spring.

In a first for Australasia, engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) beds will be installed at each end of the main runway. These are designed to safely bring an aircraft to a controlled stop with minimal damage should one overshoot the runway.

Queenstown Airport Corporation (QAC) board chair Adrienne Young-Cooper said the decision to install the innovative technology was evidence of QAC’s “proactive approach to risk management”.

The innovative system uses energy-absorbing cellular cement blocks designed to crush under the weight of an aircraft, slowing it to a stop.

“This is the first project arising from the Master Plan we completed last year, which will guide significant investment in infrastructure this decade,” she said.

Read more: Queenstown Airport announces record dividend, big plans for infrastructure

Queenstown Airport operates with a minimum runway end safety area (RESA) of 90 metres, which complies with civil aviation regulations. Queenstown Airport acting chief executive Todd Grace said the EMAS will substantially increase the margin of safety, providing the same protection as a 240m RESA.

“Runway overruns are rare, but the consequences can be catastrophic, so we want to do everything possible to mitigate that risk here,” he said.

The EMASMAX system chosen uses energy-absorbing cellular cement blocks designed to crush under the weight of an aircraft, slowing it to a stop.

Major airports such as John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport and London City Airport use the EMAS system.

To date, EMASMAX beds have safely stopped 22 aircraft – ranging in size from business jets to a Boeing 747 – with a 100 percent success rate. 

Global supplier Runway Safe has been contracted to install the technology at Queenstown Airport. Work will be completed at night and should be finished by the end of summer.

The project will cost more than $20 million.

There will be no disruption to flight schedules and no change to the types of aircraft that may land at Queenstown Airport, QAC said.

IMAGES: Supplied