New Zealand to fund airport safety project in Pacific island nations

The New Zealand government Tuesday announced a program to improve aviation safety at airports in eight Pacific island nations over the next two years.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the government would invest 2.4 million NZ dollars (1.6 million U.S. dollars) in the Pacific Aeronautical Charting and Procedures Project to enhance safety and make commercial air travel in the region safer.

"The project will allow for more accurate surveying of runways, while also checking the landscape for obstacles that could encroach on the flight paths of aircraft," McCully said in a statement.

"Advanced satellite technology will be used to develop new flight approaches which will improve the ability of aircraft to land safely, especially in bad weather."

The government-owned Airways Corporation, which manages air traffic navigation and services in New Zealand, had been contracted to undertake this project.

"The project will be implemented at 38 aerodromes across the Pacific over the next two years. Initial work will be undertaken in Vanuatu and the Cook Islands, before being expanded out to airfields in Niue, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga and other Pacific nations," McCully said.

"Training will also be provided to local staff in the Pacific to ensure that Pacific Islands are able to update aviation charts and procedures on an ongoing basis."