Whenuapai is a suburb and aerodrome in the western Albany Ward of Auckland, New Zealand. It is situated on the northwest coast of Waitematā Harbour, 15 kilometres northwest of Auckland’s city centre. The word Whenuapai means good land in Māori.
It is one of the landing points for the Southern Cross Telecommunications Cables, a trans-Pacific telecommunications cable network.
At the 2018 New Zealand census, Whenuapai had a population of 3,888 with 1,263 households.
Royal New Zealand Air Force Facilities
The construction of Whenuapai as a base for the Wellington bomber aircraft started in 1937.
RNZAF Base Auckland is a Royal New Zealand Air Force Base situated in the upper reaches of Waitematā Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand. Formerly, the base consisted of two separate airfields, Whenuapai and Hobsonville.
Hobsonville was built as a seaplane station in 1928 and until 1967 was the RNZAF’s primary flying vessel based in New Zealand. The construction of Whenuapai as a base for Vickers Wellington bomber aircraft began in 1937, and the hangars were completed in 1939.
From 1945 to 1965, Whenuapai was also the civil international airport of Auckland. In 1965, the bases of Whenuapai and Hobsonville were merged into the RNZAF Base Auckland.