History
Woodbourne was one of the first airports in New Zealand. Today it is one of the few remaining air force bases (RNZAF Base Woodbourne); with general maintenance and initial training conducted there. Woodbourne also serves as the civil airport for Blenheim. Runway 06R/24L was sealed for Fokker Friendships in 1961, and was one of the first regional airports in the country to take turboprop aircraft.
Today it has more frequent operations, with Air New Zealand's regional subsidiary Eagle Airways using Beechcraft 1900 and Air Nelson using Bombardier Q300 aircraft. The busiest route from Blenheim remains across the Cook Strait to Wellington, 80 km to the north-east; flights take only twenty five minutes, and Eagle Airways operates 13 each weekday. Sometimes a Vincent Aviation Jetstream 32 is chartered by the airline to augment operations. Eagle Airways also operates flights to Christchurch and Auckland.
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