Diary 3

Kia ora everyone

It was very foggy in Christchurch this morning, which meant a lot of cancelled and delayed flights. Some of the planes couldn’t land - they had to just fly around in circles until the fog cleared! So it was very busy when you got to the airport first thing this morning.

Audioconferences

Your day began with two audioconferences. Karoro School asked questions on the first one and Christian Renewal and Rosebank School were on the second. There were some interesting questions – The ambassadors sure learned a lot! If you missed the livestream you can listen to the audioconferences again at Audioconference Recordings.

Bringing the world south

A big part of CIAL’s mission is to get people to visit the South Island. If people want to visit the South Island they will usually need to fly into Christchurch International Airport. Having more visitors is good for business, so CIAL have people that make this mission their job.

In the first video from today you meet Scott Callaway. Scott talks about how CIAL has adopted the South Island as a brand and theme that runs throughout the airport. Anyone who has travelled around the South Island will know that there certainly are some very cool places to visit here. A lot of scenic South Island images around the airport really show off what is on offer – and makes you keen to get out and explore it all!

You also met Mel Wong. Her job is to encourage airlines to fly their planes here. CIAL does not own aircraft and does not make decisions about flights or flight timetables. But they do rely on the planes to come here so there is an important relationship to keep with them. It is an interesting topic to look into so have a look at the video where I talk with Mel about it all.

Also interesting was where you met up with Mel – in the international departure lounge. You could sense excitement here with people about to board their plane for an overseas journey. To get an idea of what this part of the airport looks like go to Panoramas.

A question to discuss: How will having more people visit the South Island benefit people other than just CIAL? What might be some of the negative things with more visitors?

Airport services

Another really important part of business for CIAL, is keeping customers happy. You met up with Nick Tolan who talked with you about the many services there are at Christchurch Airport to make sure your experience there is a positive one. Anything from providing free wireless internet to helping lost travellers is, well, all part of the service!

Take a look at the CIAL Airport Information part of the website for all you need to know and more! http://www.christchurchairport.co.nz/en/airport-information/

Finally today you got taken into a special part of the airport terminal to see the equipment used for heating and cooling the terminal. CIAL is big on looking after the environment and the heating and cooling system has even won awards for the clean, green job it does. This system uses groundwater, a renewable energy source, to do this job and the system is very efficient – meaning the costs are kept down. Watch the video where Mike Parker explains a bit more about this, not to mention see all the equipment that is used for this job!

Find out more about the way CIAL operates sustainably http://www.christchurchairport.co.nz/en/community-and-environment/the-en....

Ngā mihi and see you again tomorrow,

Andrew