Aerodromes around the Pacific are to get a 1.4 million US dollar funding boost aimed at improving aviation safety in the region.
The New Zealand government has announced the new aid project which will improve 38 areodromes around the region.
An ATR42 plane Photo: 123RF
The Pacific Aeronautical Charting and Procedures Project will use satellite technology to develop new flight approaches around the runways which will improve the ability of aircraft to land safely, especially in bad weather.
New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully says the initial work will be undertaken in Vanuatu and the Cook Islands by the Airways Corporation of New Zealand.
It will be expanded later to Niue, Kiribati, Samoa and Tonga and other countries in the region.
Mr McCully says the project will allow for more accurate surveying of runways, while also checking the landscape for obstacles that could encroach on flight paths.
Local staff will receive training to ensure the countries are able to update aviation charts and procedures.
Photo: Koro Vaka'uta / RNZ
