Details of bids to help struggling Fiordland airport kept under wraps

Key players in the rejuvenation of an embattled Fiordland airport are remaining tight-lipped about how much interest was received during a recent proposal process for private investors.

Southland District council has owned Te Anau Airport Manapōuri since 2002, when it acquired it from Air New Zealand for $401,000.

But the facility has struggled, and for the eight years from 2017/18 to 2024/25, required additional funding of $2.1 million just to break even.

The council enlisted the help of regional development agency Great South in 2023 to try and turn its fortunes around which culminated in a six-week 'request for proposals' period ending on 12 June.

Although the council says those proposals are being evaluated, the number received remains a mystery for now.

The council provided a partial response to an information request from Local Democracy Reporting which included an admission it did not have the total number.

"The process has been contracted out to Great South so we do not currently have this information while the process is ongoing," it said.

Local Democracy Reporting then contacted Great South, which said it was contracting itself to the council and was subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

"Unfortunately, in this case Great South is unable to make comment, and your inquiry should be directed to Southland District Council", departing general manager Steve Canny said in an email which was also sent to the council.

Local Democracy Reporting has since seen an email between the two parties where the council advised Great South it was subject to the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, despite the non-disclosure agreement.

The council then recommended Great South deny the request for the number of proposals because the information would be available at the end of the tender process.

A media release has since been issued by the council saying the proposal process was being worked through with meetings scheduled in the coming weeks.

"There's a lot of promising things in the pipeline with a whole raft of different opportunities on the cusp of coming together," airport governance group chair and councillor Sarah Greaney said.

More than $429,000, plus GST, has gone towards Great South for reviewing the airport across two phases - $65,605 under the council budget.

The council also revealed it had spent $7.4 million, plus GST, on upgrades since 2004/25 for buildings and runways.

It planned to shortlist proposals by 31 July ahead of negotiations and approvals by 31 October, and hoped to retain ownership of the land and assets..

Te Anau Airport Manapōuri was built in the 1960s by Mount Cook Air and was later purchased by the council to protect transport links and promote regular passenger flights, a previous report from Great South showed.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.