A sneak peek behind the scenes at Auckland's domestic terminal redevelopment. Photo: Supplied: Auckland Airport
Auckland Airport braces for busiest time of year
The tens of thousands of people expected to pass through Auckland Airport in the next weeks may notice a few changes.
The airport's $3.9 billion project to integrate the domestic and international terminals is underway, with a temporary check in pavilion being built next to the international terminal ahead of the upgrade to the departures hall.
In September, the Northern Airfield, that'll provide an apron for more jet parking space, was opened by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
The airport's already getting busier - with an extra 207,000 additional international seats expected this summer through to March, lifting total capacity to 5.8 million. Some of those seats are being provided by the new Shanghai-Auckland-Buenos Aires route that opened earlier this month, with the ambitious journey time of 29 hours.
Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui said the project is tracking well, with the integrated terminal due to open in 2029.
"We are progressing incredibly well. We recently just commissioned the 'stitch', as we call it, which is the eastern end of the international terminal which will allow that integration build to commence."
Auckland International Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui. Photo: Supplied / Greg Bowker
Hurihanganui said the infamous greenline would disappear if you are connecting from a jet service domestically to internationally, with an undercover, couple minutes long walk, as opposed to the 10-15 minutes it takes currently.
She said travellers can expect to see hoarding and changes around the airport, and advices people to give themselves a some extra time to make sure their trip goes smoothly.
"We are working as hard as we can to ensure that it is as seamless as possible when you are in the middle of a construction programme."
She said the post-Covid recovery is tracking well, and growing every year, but is still below 2019 levels, down about 9 percent.
"Looking ahead to next year, I am incredibly optimistic. The momentum we are seeing in the market, because we are seeing growth in international and domestic capacity, which is good news for New Zealand, coupled with other factors such as the NZICC convention centre opening - that has the potential to bring additional travel.
"It is positive but we have a little bit of work to do to get back to 2019 and then grow beyond that."
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