Woodbourne Aerodrome is a small, controlled aerodrome located 3NM

Nautical mile

The nautical mile is a unit of length that is about one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian, but is approximately one minute of arc of longitude only at the equator...

 (8 km) west of Blenheim

Blenheim, New Zealand

Blenheim is the most populous town in the region of Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the regional council. It has a population of The area which surrounds the town is well known as a centre of New Zealand's wine industry...

in the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, on State Highway Six, Middle Renwick Road.

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

RNZAF Base Woodbourne

RNZAF Base Woodbourne is a base of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, located 8 km west of Blenheim.Woodbourne was established in 1939 as the base for No. 2 Service Flying Training School . Also located nearby during WWII were the ground training camps of the Delta. In 1942-43, Nos 16 and 18...

); 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

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand Limited is the national airline and flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 26 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations in 15 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, and is...

's regional subsidiary Eagle Airways

Eagle Airways

Eagle Airways is a regional airline based in Hamilton, New Zealand with ten crew bases from Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands to Blenheim in the Marlborough region. It is wholly owned by Air New Zealand and operates regional services under the Air New Zealand Link brand...

 using Beechcraft 1900

Beechcraft 1900

The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop airplane manufactured by the Beechcraft Division of the Raytheon Company . It was designed, and is primarily used, as a regional airliner...

 and Air Nelson

Air Nelson

Air Nelson, a subsidiary of Air New Zealand is a regional airline based in Nelson, New Zealand. It operates services on provincial routes under the Air New Zealand Link brand. Its main base is Nelson Airport, with hubs at Auckland, Napier, New Plymouth, Wellington, Tauranga and Christchurch.The...

 using Bombardier Q300 aircraft. The busiest route from Blenheim remains across the Cook Strait

Cook Strait

Cook Strait is the strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. It connects the Tasman Sea on the west with the South Pacific Ocean on the east....

 to Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

, 80 km to the north-east; flights take only twenty five minutes, and Eagle Airways operates 13 each weekday.
Sometimes an Air National

Air National

Air National is an airline based in Auckland, New Zealand. It operates domestic and international charter services and scheduled passenger services for Air New Zealand Link. Its main bases are Auckland International Airport, Wellington International Airport, with a hub at Christchurch International...

 Jetstream 32 is chartered by the airline to augment operations. Eagle Airways also operates flights to Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

 and Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

.

Extension

A large extension has been proposed to make Woodbourne an International Airport, as Nelson Airport

Nelson Airport (New Zealand)

Nelson Airport is an airport in Nelson, New Zealand. Approximately 1.2 million passengers and visitors are said to use the airport terminal annually. Total passenger numbers for the 2011 financial year were 758,250. This represents passenger growth of approximately 11% on the previous...

 by the coast cannot be extended.

Airlines and destinations