How to avoid the holiday hold up
Auckland’s new terminal should alleviate troubles of last summer
Auckland Airport is warning passengers on international flights during the summer peak to allow an extra 30 minutes for their journey through the terminal building.
The airport says the number of passengers will be 6 per cent higher than last year when there was severe congestion. However, the airport says new building work and systems were aimed at avoiding a repeat of last summer when passengers and crew missed flights and road traffic was at its worst.
Air New Zealand has already advised domestic passengers to consider travel insurance just in case of holdups and missed flights.
Anil Varma, Auckland Airport’s acting general manager aeronautical operations, said December and January were the busiest months of the year at the international terminal.
“This year we are expecting around 162 international flights every day, with international passenger numbers expected to be approximately 6 per cent higher than last summer. We are also expecting an average of around 37,500 passengers to use the international terminal on each of our 10 busiest days this summer.”
Varma advised passengers to rethink routines.
“Just like last year, we recommend everyone allows an extra 30 minutes for travel through the international terminal over the next couple of months. This will help ensure they have a more relaxed journey. They should also give themselves extra time to travel to and from the airport, given the high level of roadworks happening around the Auckland region again this summer.”
Throughout the year Auckland Airport has invested more than $1 million every working day to make improvements to help support the growth in international passengers and aircraft. The airport said it had continued to work closely with the New Zealand Aviation Security Service, Customs New Zealand and the Ministry for Primary Industries. The New Zealand Aviation Security Service has installed four new state-of-the-art security screening machines in the international departure area to improve passenger processing times.
Customs had increased the eligibility for their eGates to include Chinese passport holders, and more nationalities are expected to be delivered throughout the summer period.
The airport had built a new Green Lane for use by preselected New Zealand and Australian passport holders who are arriving in the country and have no biosecurity items to declare to the Ministry for Primary Industries.