A $300 million-plus development that will transform how travellers arrive and depart from the Auckland Airport terminal, while paving the way for any future mass rapid transit, will get underway in June.

The Transport Hub, to be built in the footprint of the main international carpark, has been designed to allow traffic to flow through its ground floor. Two traffic lanes will enter from Ray Emery Drive into an undercover pick-up and drop-off area with a short covered walk into the terminal.

Auckland Airport’s international passenger capacity is taking flight, with July seeing available seat capacity hit its highest levels since March 2020.

The removal of all quarantine requirements and reopening of borders to visitors from New Zealand’s major tourism destinations has given airlines the confidence to reopen routes, says Scott Tasker, general manager aeronautical commercial.

Evidence over the past 18 months that New Zealanders are keen and willing to travel when they can will encourage airlines to keep faith with the market, delegates at the Tourism Export Council (TEC) NZ conference in New Plymouth heard recently.

Scott Tasker, general manager aeronautical commercial at Auckland Airport, says airlines are aware that New Zealand was a profitable route pre-Covid and could be again. On top of that surveys show that New Zealand is a hugely desirable destination for overseas markets.

However, he also warns that the country will not remain on people’s ‘bucket lists’ forever and that airlines will obviously shift operations to routes where borders open – especially if there is no clear pathway to the future provided by New Zealand authorities.

Auckland Airport has joined with industry partners and medical experts in supporting the development of a risk-based border model.

Published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, the peer-reviewed research evaluates the risk posed by passengers from countries with different prevalence of Covid-19 travelling to New Zealand.
It proposes a multi-layer, risk-mitigation approach in support of New Zealand’s elimination strategy by exploring the impact of a more tailored approach that matches different levels of traveller risk.

The number of domestic flights operating from Auckland Airport made it one of the busiest in Australasia and Asia in the month of June.

Auckland Airport’s Operations Centre team is keeping the airport running smoothly in the face of COVID-19 by bringing in staff from other departments who have the right experience, and by splitting into three groups separated by drop-down dividers.

When the Flight Centre team at Auckland Airport turn up for work each day they have little idea of what they will be dealing with over the next few hours, but they do know one thing – it won’t be the same as the day before.

Auckland Airport continues to look at multiple route development opportunities, market development manager Michelle Noordermeer, told an Expedia Partner Summit in Auckland late last week.

Auckland Airport is predicting international passenger growth will continue at a rate of at least 4% per year over the next five years, despite increasing fuel prices, a hotel industry gathering in Auckland heard yesterday.