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Auckland Airport has become the first in New Zealand to switch its runway lighting to LEDs.
The airport has installed 600 LED lights along its 3.6km runway, replacing the old halogen lamps, with up to 20 lights at a time replaced during twice-weekly overnight runway maintenance closures.
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In total, 240 new centreline lights, 186 touchdown zone lights, 52 threshold and 124 runway edge lights have been installed, which the airport says would last 15 times longer than halogen lights and use 70 per cent less power.
A new power centre is also under construction at the western end of the airfield, slated for completion next year.
“Not only do the new lights use less energy, being more durable leads to less waste and fewer maintenance hours to keep them operating,” said Auckland Airport chief infrastructure officer Susana Fueyo Suarez.
“Every time we’re upgrading our infrastructure, we’re not only ensuring we are resilient and ready for today but are making sure we’re bringing improvements that will benefit us for decades to come.”
According to Suarez, the upgrades, which come as Auckland Airport is looking to integrate its domestic and international operations into one unified terminal, are the result of months of overnight work.
“Not only was the runway lighting conversion a project that requires a high degree of technical skill, but the physical work can only be done in the early hours of the morning, between 1.30am and 4.30am on Saturday and Monday when the runway closes for maintenance.
“This is the only time we have no scheduled flights at Auckland Airport, and it means the project team must be highly organised – ready to go after the final flight arrival or departure and completely clear of the runway when it reopens a few short hours later.
“It’s a real credit to the planning and work put in by the engineering and installation teams that we now have the full runway powered up with the new lights.”
Auckland Airport now plans to replace all its remaining halogen lights, including taxiway, apron and aircraft stand lighting, in stages over the next 10 years.
Sydney Airport has also been replacing its runway lighting with LEDs, saying in an Instagram video last year that the works would be complete by the end of 2024.
