How Wellington Airport says its runway extension will improve the surrounding area.

The cost of flying long-haul in and out of Wellington could drop by up to 30 per cent, while the Government's coffers could swell by $2 billion if the city's airport presses ahead with plans to extend its runway.

But doing so will have consequences for Wellingtonians living and playing nearby, who may have to endure construction between midnight and 6am, and an expected reduction in rideable waves at Lyall Bay.

More than 20 reports to be published on Wednesday outline Wellington Airport's case for spending $300 million to add 354 metres of tarmac to the runway's southern end by way of reclamation.

1 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from Moa Point Beach. Click 'Next' to see what it would look like with an extended runway. 2 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from Moa Point Beach with an extended runway. 3 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from Palmer Head. 4 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from Palmer Head with an extended runway. 5 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from 35 Moa Point Rd. 6 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from 35 Moa Point Rd with an extended runway. 7 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from the breakwater on Moa Point Rd. 8 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from the breakwater on Moa Point Rd with an extended runway. 9 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from 48 Moa Point Rd. 10 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from 48 Moa Point Rd with an extended runway. 11 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from the pathway off Kekerenga St, Strathmore. 12 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from the pathway off Kekerenga St, Strathmore with an extended runway. 13 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from Hue te Taka Peninsula. 14 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from Hue te Taka Peninsula with an extended runway. 15 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from Te Raekaihau Point. 16 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from Te Raekaihau Point with an extended runway. 17 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from Hornesy Rd, Melrose. 18 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from Hornesy Rd, Melrose with an extended runway. 19 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from Promenade, Lyall Bay. 20 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from Promenade, Lyall Bay with an extended runway. 21 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from Arthurs Nose. 22 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from Arthurs Nose with an extended runway. 23 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The existing view from Truby King Park, Melrose. 24 of 24 WELLINGTON AIRPORT The view from Truby King Park, Melrose with an extended runway.

Everything from the potential impact on airfares and the economy to the longer runway's effect on air quality, noise levels and marine ecology has been put under the microscope.

READ MORE: What the experts had to say about Wellington Airport's runway extension

Extending the runway would enable wide-bodied jets such as Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A350s to fly into the capital, opening up the potential for direct links to Asia and North America.

How Wellington Airport's runway extension would be built.

The reports forecast a daily long-haul service in 2021 growing to four flights a day by 2035.

OPINION: Case for longer runway gains steam

Independent economic researchers Sapere calculated the net benefit to the country at just over $2b, meaning that, for every $1 spent on lengthening the runway, about $7 of economic benefit would be added.

WELLINGTON AIRPORT Independent experts have scrutinised Wellington Airport's plans to extend its runway 354 metres south.

Injecting more competition into the Wellington market may also "substantially reduce, if not eliminate" the premiums airlines are charging international travellers to fly out of the capital, compared with Auckland and Christchurch.

"Fare premiums of about 20 per cent are not unusual, and some fare premiums exceed 30 per cent."

Another report paints Wellington as an attractive prospect for new airlines, given its market demand for long-haul flights of 679 passengers a day each way – well in excess of the 220 required to make the route viable.

Wellington Airport chief executive Steve Sanderson said those projections provided a very high level of confidence for the airport to proceed with an application for resource consent.

Sapere's cost-benefit analysis also suggests the most "economically efficient" way to pay for runway extension could be to get some, if not all, of the money from the taxpayer, given the Government's much broader tax base.

READ MORE:

* Runway extension: Build it and they will come

* No board of inquiry for runway resource consent

* $10,000 compo for home owners affected by runway

* Longer runway gets thumbs up from council

* Airlines question need for runway extension

* Mayors agree to fund half of runway extension

* Council grants extra $2m for airport runway plan

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce said the Government had not ruled out contributing, but it would take more than talk of $2 billion net benefit to sway it.

"We hear from lots of people every day who say that, if they can get their hands on some free money, then they could generate plenty of wealth for the country," he said.

"It's a common argument, and if we were to agree to all of it then the taxpayer would get a lot poorer."

Wellington city ratepayers have already contributed $2.95m towards the $5.9m cost of obtaining resource consent, and have pledged $90m of the $150m that will come from councils in the Wellington region for the project's construction.

Deputy Mayor Justin Lester said the detailed reports showed the money spent to date had not been wasted, as the economic case for moving forward was "pretty compelling".

Should the runway get resource consent, the council would seek "as firm a commitment as possible" from an airline to begin long-haul flights before proceeding, he said. But that might not necessarily be a contract.

Lester acknowledged the construction would cause some disturbance to the residents of Moa Point, but he was confident it could be managed. "There will be some short-term pain but plenty of long-term gain."

Acoustic screening of homes, noise insulation and moving residents into hotels for a while have all been proposed as possible solutions to combat construction noise.

The airport also plans to build a 180m by 140m rock structure on the floor of Lyall Bay to manipulate the surf break and counter the expected decrease in surfable waves of between 14 and 27 per cent.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

* A public consultation period will run from November 25 to February 12, including three open days across Wellington in early December.

* The reports will be completed in February, before the airport lodges its consent application in March.

* The Environment Court is expected to hear the resource consent application in August.

AIRPORT RUNWAY: BY THE NUMBERS

1,100,000 cubic metres of bulk fill

580,000 cubic metres of rock dyke material

354 metres of tarmac added

331 metres of land reclaimed

60 trucks per hour hauling fill

3 years to build