The New Zealand Defence Force has completed its Antarctica support for the 2021/22 season.
This season there were 106 flights in and out of Christchurch, with 2295 passengers and 936,942kgs of cargo moved.
Over the 2021/22 season, more than 200 NZDF personnel were involved as part of the NZDF’s commitment to Antarctic programmes.
That figure includes sending people to Antarctica, working on-air operations from Christchurch, and those deployed on the Royal New Zealand Navy ship HMNZS Aotearoa, which completed its first resupply mission to the ice this year.
NZDF also sends people to Antarctica to fill a variety of roles. This season, there were eight logistics personnel, six RNZAF firefighters, eight fuel operators, 21 NZ Army personnel in the driver support team, a 32-strong ship offload team, and nine personnel who were part of the Scott Base Support Team.
A 26-strong Christchurch-based Harewood Terminal Team oversaw the movement of cargo and passengers to and from Christchurch and Phoenix Airfield, at McMurdo Station.
This team supports all aircraft movements to McMurdo including for Antarctica New Zealand, the USAP, and Italy’s Antarctica flights.
