‘Let’s celebrate it’ — airport expansion ready
ABOUT 70 people were at the opening of Dunedin International Airport’s terminal expansion and new departure lounge yesterday.
The official opening of the second stage of the airport’s expansion was supposed to be held on March 19 but was delayed due to Covid19.
Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins, Dunedin City Council chief executive Sandy Graham and Treasury representatives were among those present as the site was opened.
‘‘Let’s celebrate it, let’s have some good times . . . it’s been a pretty tough year,’’ airport chief executive Richard Roberts said.
Mr Roberts said the terminal was built for an annual intake of about 1.1 million passengers, and it would probably have had half that because of disruption from Covid19.
The terminal expansion would vastly improve the experience for passengers at the airport, he said.
‘‘We were under significant pressure [before the expansion], we were treating people like livestock . . . to some extent. That couldn’t continue.’’
He said the airport had worked with airlines and their stakeholders — Dunedin City Council and the Government — to consult on what they needed to do to expand the terminal.
The terminal celebrated the region and Dunedin with street art images — particularly in the toilets.
The first stage of the airport’s expansion was revealed in August last year when two advanced body scanners were added to its security screening service.