Airport closes for runway upgrade

The works are part of the Airport Runway Upgrade being delivered and managed by Orange City Council, and are being undertaken by Sydney-based contractors, Fulton-Hogan.

The project, which also includes the rehabilitation of a 460 metre-long taxiway, received $1.46 million in funding under the NSW Government’s Restart NSW Regional Tourism Infrastructure Fund.

Resulting from the large amount of equipment needed to undertake the work, the airport’s grass airstrip will also be closed.

Regular commercial flights will be reduced to one incoming and one outgoing flight per day during the closure period. Weather permitting, both the main runway and grass strip will re-open on 21 January.

Orange City Council’s Airport Committee chair, Cr Chris Gryllis said the project had been planned in consultation with Regional Express and other local businesses using the airport to minimise disruption to travellers to and from the area.

“These first few weeks of January are traditionally a quiet time for flight bookings,” Cr Gryllis said.

“The early morning flight will leave before the runway re-sealing begins each day at 7 am and the late flight from Sydney will arrive after work concludes for the day by 7pm.”

Orange mayor John Davis OAM said if other light planes were looking to use the runway during this period, the same timeframes for runway operation would need to be observed.

“I’m sure local flying enthusiasts will be patient during this couple of weeks because the end-result will be a better quality runway,” Cr Davis said.

Orange City Council Infrastructure Committee chair, Cr Glenn Taylor said council electricians will also use the closure period as an opportunity to conduct routine maintenance on the main runway’s lighting system.

“The taxiway upgrade at Orange Regional Airport has been planned to take place in stages, allowing for continued access between the main runway and small hangars alongside it,” Cr Taylor said.

“The completion of the project will provide the community of Orange, and travellers to and from the region, with an improved runway and taxiway.

This will help to boost the capacity and safety of the airport and increase its ability to attract visitors to regional NSW.”

ROLLING: At times there have been about 30 different pieces of machinery on the runway during the upgrades.