Today is a day of milestones for the Waikato Aviation Cluster, for its associated businesses, and for the Waikato region. 

We have just heard a few fascinating comments about the significance of the 1000^th aircraft, but my first duty here is to help with the opening of this new runway.

This runway development makes sound commercial sense.

Recent statistics show Hamilton International Airport is now the second busiest airport in the country, behind Auckland. 

Whilst the main 2200m runway at the airport accommodates most commercial passenger traffic, the original 650m long grass runway has been used extensively by CTC Aviation Training (NZ) Ltd, the Waikato Aero Club, Hamilton Aero Maintenance and several other businesses and private pilots. 

CTC Aviation Training relied heavily on that grass runway to deliver airline pilot training programmes with up to 45,000 flying hours in 2008 - more than any other flight training operator in the country.

However, over the last pwo winters the grass runway was closed for more than five months, and this created problems for training.

When the grass runway is closed the aviation traffic is diverted to the busier main runway with a consequence for pilot training hours and generally impeding operational efficiency. 

The winter closures of the grass runway also created issues for maintenance operations. 

Customers were inconvenienced by having to wait for other air traffic and the additional flight time before getting on the ground. 

This possibility of delays created a risk that customers would go elsewhere for their maintenance needs.  Making life difficult for a customer is never a sound business approach.

Not surprisingly the Aviation Cluster had previously identified that having appropriate airport infrastructure, including runways and taxiways, was critical to ensuring aircraft maintenance and airline pilot training growth was not impeded.

This culminated in the Hamilton International Airport and the Waikato Aviation Cluster making the decision to fund the cost of sealing the grass runway. 

The cluster contributed $300,000 including GST, drawn from NZTE's $2 million Major Regional Initiative (MRI) funding.

Decisions like this show that the Waikato Aviation Cluster is demonstrating good commercial leadership.

I note the cluster has already helped greatly increase productivity within its businesses by applying "Lean Manufacturing" techniques.

It has also developed the infrastructure by getting a specialist aviation heat treatment facility built, saving a lot of money for cluster businesses each year.

I am advised that the cluster is now undertaking a lot of work on building a specialist aviation paint facility, which would be another significant step towards enhancing the reputation of the aviation cluster.

These have all been important steps towards developing this location as New Zealand's specialist aviation centre.

So it is a pleasure for me to welcome the completion of this new runway.

It is the culmination of a good idea brought through to fruition. I am sure it will improve your business outcomes, and I am confident that it will be an important step towards an even brighter future for the Waikato Aviation Cluster.