Christchurch also gets very bad trade winds from the North West, the difference being the ample flat land they have allows for a runway to accomodate this. Spri

Christchurch also gets very bad trade winds from the North West, the difference being the ample flat land they have allows for a runway to accomodate this. Spring/Summer seasons see a fair amount of use of the N/W runway at Christchurch international. Wellington is just a badly placed airport. Just as an FYI, going off the pictures from their website I'd place the test flights ~20km from Methven from the scenery in the background.