The system is a taonga of which New Zealanders can be proud. But as with many national treasures, it should not be taken for granted.
New Zealand’s air navigation system – and aviation more generally – is currently under pressure from disruptive changes which are amplifying risks and demanding new ways of doing things. New skills, new policies and new regulatory approaches are required.
These changes are also creating exciting new opportunities for value creation, both at home and abroad.
In managing these risks and seizing emerging opportunities New Zealand has some critical advantages. It has an air navigation system that has been and remains safe. The system has the respect and trust of international partner aviators, agencies and nations. New Zealand has demonstrated that it can act as a crucible for innovation. It has also shown that it can drive innovation in distinctive ways, in partnership with tāngata whenua and iwi Māori.
But the risks are also great. It is hard to regulate an increasingly congested airspace with multiple new users. It is challenging to compete on the world stage for inwards investment in innovation. Our airports are at risk from climate change impacts. The cyber security of our system is always under threat. Technological changes are placing both capacity and capability pressures on the air navigation system workforce. Our traditional funding models make it challenging to invest in the long-term infrastructure that underpins the system’s resilience and connectedness.
And, in spite of being a small nation, we have not always been good at working together, as an aviation and air navigation system. We haven’t always driven collective outcomes and benefits, in addition to the individual missions of the commercial and professional organisations and government agencies that comprise the system.
Hundreds of years after many of our ancestors used the stars to navigate to these islands, we must now adopt and invest in new ways to navigate in a more complex and crowded airspace than they could ever have imagined.
The collective effort required is considerable. But stakeholder ambition is also high. The reward for working together to rethink and reset New Zealand’s air navigation system will be improved prosperity, greater connectedness – both at home and with the world – and improved safety and resilience in the face of a challenging and uncertain future.