Media Release Queenstown Cable Car plans gather pace with local construction partner and major park-and-ride facilities
Media Release
For immediate release
Queenstown Cable Car plans gather pace with local construction partner and major park-and-ride facilities
Queenstown, New Zealand – 17 May 2026
Following the selection of preferred ropeway suppliers Leitner and Doppelmayr in December 2025, Southern Infrastructure (SIL) has selected Naylor Love - New Zealand’s largest private construction company - to deliver the civil and building works on the Airport to Town Centre line, alongside plans for significant park-and-ride infrastructure aimed at reducing congestion across the Whakatipu Basin.
“We received several high-quality submissions through a competitive procurement process, which made the final selection extremely difficult. Ultimately, competitive pricing, a strong local team and recent experience delivering the Skyline Queenstown upgrades helped Naylor Love edge in front,” said Resolve Group Chief Executive Ben Sherriff, who led the procurement.
SIL Chief Executive Ross Copland said he was impressed with the level of pre-construction planning that went into the bids.
“This will be among the largest urban cable car networks in the world, traversing complex terrain and urban environments. Naylor Love invested significant time developing detailed construction planning models that gave us confidence they fully understood what this job will take to deliver,” said Mr Copland.
Airport-to-town luggage services under discussion
Not long before Covid upended the global travel industry, Air New Zealand ran trials testing baggage check-in services in the Queenstown Town Centre for travellers departing Queenstown Airport. Southern Infrastructure has been in early discussions with Air New Zealand about the potential to incorporate baggage services into the proposed Town Centre station, including possible future check-in functionality.
Around one third of travellers arriving into Queenstown carry oversized luggage such as ski, bike or adventure equipment. Southern Infrastructure says the cable car cabins could provide a reliable and efficient way to move luggage securely between the airport and town centre, helping reduce reliance on rental vehicles for some visitors.
“It’s still early days, but we’ve really enjoyed working with the Air New Zealand team and learning more about the progress made prior to Covid,” said Mr Copland.
“The next step is engaging with the accommodation sector to gauge interest in integrated luggage services that could allow visitors to move more easily between the airport, accommodation and key destinations across Queenstown.”
Southern Infrastructure responds to calls for park-and-ride facilities
Southern Infrastructure has received strong public support for park-and-ride infrastructure to be incorporated into the Queenstown Cable Car project, with detailed planning now well advanced for facilities at Queenstown Airport, Queenstown Town Centre and Ladies Mile stations.
“We know locals are frustrated by congestion and the lack of practical transport alternatives, particularly for people commuting into Queenstown each day,” said Mr Copland. “Public transport purists would prefer we didn’t provide parking, but even Auckland Council recognised park-and-ride was a pragmatic way to support adoption of the Northern Busway. Our team has been working hard to secure parking facilities at key cable car stations and I’m excited to announce that we have secured land on Ladies Mile for a significant park-and-ride facility suitable for at least 700 vehicles, which we intend to include in our consent application.”
Southern Infrastructure has also revisited earlier QLDC planning work for a parking building on the existing Boundary Street carpark site and updated the concept to reflect the updated planning provisions.
“QLDC had already undertaken substantial work on the building, and we found the design was an excellent fit with the proposed cable car station. By increasing the height and delivering the parking building alongside the Cable Car station, we have been able to materially improve the economics of what was previously a very marginal project,” said Mr Copland.
The company is also supporting plans for a parking building on Queenstown Airport land adjacent to the proposed Airport station with capacity for approximately 300 parking spaces.
In total, SIL says approximately 1,400 park-and-ride spaces are currently being planned across the western, southern and eastern edges of the proposed network, designed to support commuters and visitors travelling into Queenstown from surrounding communities including Wanaka, Kingston and Glenorchy.
“As you would expect, we’re also working with EV charging specialist Jump Charging to explore large-scale EV charging infrastructure across the park-and-ride network as part of our broader commitment to electrifying transport in Queenstown. Over time, we believe this can help support greater adoption of more affordable EVs with smaller battery capacity for everyday families,” said Mr Copland.
ENDS.
Media Contact:
Jenna Adamson - Director, Southern Infrastructure