Wellington International Airport (formerly known as Rongotai Airport) is an international airport located in the suburb of Rongotai in Wellington. It lies 3 NM or 5.5 km south-east from the city centre. It is a hub for Air New Zealand and Sounds Air. Wellington International Airport Limited, a joint venture between Infratil and the Wellington City Council, operates the airport. Wellington is the second busiest airport in New Zealand after Auckland, handling a total of 3,455,858 passengers in the year ending June 2022. The airport, in addition to linking many New Zealand destinations with national and regional carriers, also has links to major cities in eastern Australia. It is the home of some smaller general aviation businesses, including the Wellington Aero Club which operates from the general aviation area on the western side of the runway. The airport comprises a small site on the Rongotai isthmus, a stretch of low-lying land between Wellington proper and the Miramar Peninsula. It operates a single runway with ILS in both directions. The airport handles turboprop, narrow-body and wide-body jet aircraft movements. The airport is bordered by residential and commercial areas to the east and west, and by Wellington Harbour and Cook Strait to the north and south respectively. Wellington has a reputation for sometimes rough and turbulent landings, even in larger aircraft, due to the channelling effect of Cook Strait creating strong and gusty winds, especially in pre frontal north westerly conditions. History Rongotai Airport opened with a tar runway in November 1929. The airport opened in 1935, but was closed down due to safety reasons on 27 September 1947 (grass surface often became unusable during winter months). During the closure, Paraparaumu Airport, 35 miles north of Wellington, was Wellington's airport, and became the country's busiest airport in 1949. A proposal to relocate the terminal from the east side to the site of the Miramar Golf Course was put forward in 1956. Houses were moved and hills were bulldozed to make way for the construction of the new Wellington Airport in 1958, at a total cost of £5 million. The current airport was officially reopened on 25 October 1959, after lobbying by the local Chamber of Commerce for a location that was much closer to the city centre. Paraparaumu Airport was deemed unsuitable for large planes due to adverse terrain. The original length of the runway was , and was extended to the