Aircraft activities

Introduction

Aircraft activities on or over public conservation lands and waters must have a concession or authorisation from DOC. This includes both commercial operations and private recreational activities.

Aircraft landings at Milford Sound Aerodrome

We’re working to make sure aircraft concessions at Milford Sound/Piopiotahi Aerodrome are fair and consistent by consulting with existing operators and Ngāi Tahu.

Get more information on the review and how operations are affected. 

Aircraft are defined under the Civil Aviation Authority Rules.

All aircraft, including unmanned aircraft (drones), require a permission to land on, take off from, or hover over (collectively referred to as ‘landings’) public conservation lands and waters, other than for certain activities, such as: search and rescue; Departmental management purposes; emergency situations; maritime navigational-aid management; land survey work; aircraft operated by the New Zealand Defence Force or the Civil Aviation Authority; or any mining activity authorised under the Crown Minerals Act 1991.

Find out what concession you will need and how to apply for one – see below.

In some areas you will also need noise abatement certification – see below.

Note that Wild animal recovery operations (WARO) and aerially assisted trophy hunting (AATH) are not covered in this section.

If you wish to use a private aircraft for personal recreational use, you will also need a concession. There are discounted fees for these activities if you are using a designated landing site or a site where DOC is comfortable that the effects are well understood.

Pre-application meeting

Applying for a concession for the first time can be a little tricky. To ensure your application goes smoothly we advise you to contact us to have a pre-application meeting. We’ll help you to:

  • Understand the concession you will need to apply for.
  • Navigate our statutory planning documents, so you can consider whether the activity you wish to undertake is consistent with them.
  • Understand DOC’s responsibility to give effect to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, which requires consultation with Treaty Partners on most applications. If you wish, DOC can help you contact the local iwi, hapū, and whānau to assess whether your proposed activity will have any cultural effects. Often this consultation can enhance the activity you are considering.

Type of concession

Depending on what you want to do and when and how you want to do it, you will either need a one-off concession or a longer term concession. 

One-off concession – as well as complying with all relevant legislation and conservation plans or strategies your planned activity must:

  • have only minor environmental effects that can easily be managed
  • have clearly defined limits (ie number of landings)
  • not involve permanent structures
  • not take place in the same location more than once in any three year period.

Longer term concession – for aircraft activities for up to 10 years.

Your DOC advisor will advise you what concession you will need in your pre application meeting.

Apply for your concession

Follow the relevant process below for your aircraft activity. There are additional applications you will need to make if your activity involves anything outside of aircraft activities, such as water transport or land-based guiding activities.

One-off activity

Identify the name and status of the public conservation land you wish to use by checking DOC maps.

If your application is approved we will send you a contract which you must sign and return before proceeding with your activity.

Longer-term activity

Identify the name and status of the public conservation land you wish to use by checking DOC maps.

If your application is approved we will send you a contract which you must sign and return before proceeding with your activity.

Find out more

Find out more about the process and how to prepare your application.

Permissions application process

Preparing a permission application

Timeframe

One-off applications are generally processed in shorter timeframes, dependent on whether iwi consultation is required.

Complex applications could take a number of months to be processed. If your proposed activity has to be notified to the public because there are likely to be significant environmental effects over the duration of your activity, this will impact your application processing time.

How long it takes to process an application

Fees

One-off activity

We will invoice you once we have processed your application. Your fee is likely to be $130 plus GST ($146.50 including GST) unless you are using a private aircraft (as described above). For private aircraft, the fee you pay is $65 + GST, and you do not pay any ongoing fees.

Longer-term activity

We will invoice you once we have processed your application. The processing fee for a standard application for aircraft use is $2565 excluding GST ($2949.75 including GST). If your application is assessed as complex, covers multiple regions, or includes more than 20 individual locations, this fee is likely to be higher. We will send you an estimate of costs once we have received your application.

If you are applying for a concession for recreational use of a private aircraft (ie you are not receiving any commercial gains from the activity), we will discount the processing fee by 50%.

If your proposed activity has to be notified to the public because there are likely to be significant environmental effects over the duration of your activity your fee will include the cost of public notification and hearings. We will provide an estimate of the likely application processing time and cost when your application is received.

You will be required to pay ongoing concession and activity fees.

Additional applications

If your aircraft activity involves one of the activities below you must also fill in the relevant form for that activity.

Drones

To use a drone on public conservation land for any reason, you need a concession from DOC. See Commercial drone use or Recreational drone use for more information about drone concessions. 

Noise abatement certification

DOC has worked with the aviation industry to create noise abatement processes to manage the effect of aircraft noise on other users of public conservation land.

Aircraft operators are required to hold noise abatement certification in these locations:

  • Aorak /Mount Cook National Park: Hooker and Tasman valleys
  • Westland National Park: Glacier valleys
  • Fiordland National Park: Milford Sound, Milford Track, Routeburn Track, Hollyford Valley, Greenstone and Caples Valley, Gertrude Saddle.

Providers of noise abatement certification are:

Contact us

For more information or assistance with your concession contact the nearest of these DOC offices.

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