Milford Sound Airport

Milford Sound Airport is a small but very busy airport in Milford Sound, in New Zealands Fiordland region of the South Island. It is mainly used by tourist / flightseeing operators.LocationThe Airport is located in Milford Sound, Southland, New Zealand, and serves the Milford Sound Tourism Industry including Boats, Kayaks, Milford Track as well as the fishing boats based at Milford Sound. It stands at the head of the Fiord at the junction of the Cleddau and Arthur rivers.HistoryOn 17 November 1938, a Southland Airways Puss Moth piloted by Arthur Bradshaw made the first landing in at Milford Sound. However, any further development for air operations into the Fiord was delayed by World War II.Post war pilot Fred ‘Popeye’ Lucas was the next to land an aircraft in Milford. He landed on the sand spit in his Southern Scenic Airtrips Auster on 22 August 1951. This then sparked the addition of an airstrip for use by his company to expand tourism into Milford Sound. An airstrip was constructed, initially 550 yards (503 metres) in length with the first official landing achieved in May, 1952.Over the years the airstrip has been upgraded and lengthened till today’s sealed strip of 792 metres. In order for Southern Scenic Airtrips and National Airways Corporation (NAC) to be able to fly the larger twin-engine aircraft into the area the airstrip became officially licensed in 1956.