Complaints:

The Airport has a 'good neighbour' policy, and wishes to resolve any problems as soon as possible. All aircraft operators using the facility are required to operate in accordance with the aviation regulations and use noise abatement procedures whenever it is safe to do so.

Complaints will be fully investigated if they are submitted to the Airport Management within 48 hours of the event complained about, using the 'Complaints form' below and giving enough detail for a meaningful investigation to be carried out and any problem identified and mitigated.

Please note that the Airport is unable to respond to complaints coming through a third party several weeks after the event unless they were given the full details at the time by email (or in writing) while it was still possible to do something about it.

For example, if you think an aircraft has flown illegally low over your house, please do not just complain to the local council a few days later... The Council does not have responsibility for aircraft operations, and their complaints process will necessarily delay the investigation to the point that it will be difficult to identify the aircraft and pilot involved. Instead fill in the complaints form and send to the Airport immediately so that problem can be investigated and resolved. If necessary the Airport will contact the appropriate authorities.

All formal complaints are taken seriously. The Airport Management will acknowledge receipt of the complaint, and will carry out a preliminary investigation to gather more information. Every formal complaint is then submitted to the independent Airport Safety Committee for consideration. The committee will then carry out any further investigation and interview any pilots / operators / the complainant / Airport management, as they consider necessary. The committee may make a recommendation for action to be taken. To date the recommendations of the Safety Committee have always been adopted in full as Airport operational policy.

Notes for complainants.
To enable a satisfactory resolution of your complaint:

1. Be specific. "An aircraft flew at low level over my house last weekend" does not give enough information to identify the person or organisation responsible.
"A black helicopter flew at low level over my house situated at 76 Green Rd, Parakai at 10:43 on Saturday 21st and departed to the North" enables an investigation to be undertaken and the particular aircraft and pilot to be identified.

2. Submit any complaint within 48 hours maximum, and preferably 24 hours. Once a week has passed it is difficult to be certain of who did what, when, and why.

3. Attach photos if possible. These are a considerable help to the investigating officer. Even if an aircraft in a photo is too small to have much detail, a photo always helps with aircraft identification and enables estimates of aircraft altitude, flight activity and weather conditions.

4. State the regulation or requirement that you suspect has been infringed. For a complaint to be upheld, someone needs to have acted outside the regulations.

To illustrate this point: A railway is a consented transport facility and trains may legally use it at any time, so a complaint about trains passing in the middle of the night is unlikely to be upheld by the rail authorities. Similarly, the Airport is a consented transport facility and may be used by aircraft at any time so long as the flight is conducted in accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority regulations.

5. Sent your complaint to the Airport. Territorial local authorities do not have responsibility for aircraft and airport operations.

Download Complaints Form (may take 60 seconds to load on some computers)