AirportsNelson Airport is a medium-sized airport serving Nelson, in Nelson Region, New Zealand. It has scheduled airline flights. Its IATA code, the three letters printed on tickets and baggage tags, is NSN.
Key facts
- IATA code
- NSN
- ICAO code
- NZNS
- City
- Nelson
- State or region
- Nelson Region
- Country
- New Zealand
- Kind
- Medium airport
- Coordinates
- 41.2967° S, 173.2243° E
- Elevation
- 5 m (17 ft)
- Runways
- 4
- Longest runway
- 1,347 m (4,420 ft)
Airport codes
On a ticket or a baggage tag, NSN means Nelson Airport. Pilots and air traffic controllers use a different, four-letter ICAO code: NZNS. ICAO codes that begin with N belong to the South Pacific. How the two kinds of code differ.
Where it is
The airport lies at 41.2967° S, 173.2243° E. It stands 5 metres (17 feet) above sea level. The nearest large city in our data is Wellington, about 130 km away in a straight line.
Local time
Time now at the airport: loading
Time zone Pacific/Auckland, taken from the nearest town in the data. Flight times on tickets are always in the local time of each airport.
Runways
Nelson Airport has 4 runways in the data. The longest is 1,347 metres (4,420 feet). That is a short runway, used mostly by propeller aircraft. Among the 28 airports of New Zealand on this site with runway data, its longest runway ranks number 17.
| Runway | Length | Width | Surface | Lights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/20 | 1,347 m 4,420 ft | 45 m | Asphalt | Yes |
| 02L/20R | 731 m 2,398 ft | 60 m | Grass | not listed |
| 17/35 | 600 m 1,970 ft | 60 m | Grass | not listed |
| 06/24 | 526 m 1,726 ft | 24 m | Grass | not listed |
The numbers in a runway name give its compass direction. How runway numbers work.
Nearest airports with scheduled flights
| Airport | Code | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Woodbourne AirportBlenheim | BHE | 59 km |
| Picton AerodromeKoromiko | PCN | 61 km |
| Wellington International AirportWellington | WLG | 132 km |
| Westport AirportWestport | WSZ | 145 km |
| Wanganui AirportWanganui | WAG | 212 km |
Distance to major airports
| To | Distance | Rough flying time |
|---|---|---|
| Delhi (DEL)India | 12,532 km | 15 h 35 min |
| Mumbai (BOM)India | 12,241 km | 15 h 15 min |
| Dubai (DXB)United Arab Emirates | 14,099 km | 17 h 30 min |
| London Heathrow (LHR)United Kingdom | 18,786 km | 23 h 10 min |
| New York JFK (JFK)United States | 14,537 km | 18 h 00 min |
| Los Angeles (LAX)United States | 10,894 km | 13 h 40 min |
| Singapore (SIN)Singapore | 8,392 km | 10 h 35 min |
| Tokyo Haneda (HND)Japan | 9,200 km | 11 h 35 min |
| Sydney (SYD)Australia | 2,099 km | 3 h 00 min |
Distances are the shortest path over the globe, worked out from the coordinates. Flying times are rough estimates for a direct jet flight. They do not mean that a direct flight exists. Work out the distance to any airport.
Links
Airport data: OurAirports, as downloaded on 11 November 2026. This page does not show live flights, terminals or airlines. For those, use the airport's or the airline's own site. See About and data sources.