New Zealand Airports

New Zealand boasts a number of top-class airports, offering travelers fine facilities as they move from one destination to the next. Long distance international flights are mainly operated from Christchurch International Airport and Auckland Airport. Intermediate and domestic flights, with limited international flights, are operated from airports such as Dunedin International Airport, Hamilton International Airport, Queenstown International Airport, Wellington International Airport and Palmerston North International Airport. Domestic flights are serviced by smaller airports, for example Greymouth Airport, New Plymouth Airport, Wanaka Airport and Gisborne Airport, to name a few.

The Auckland Airport is managed by Auckland International Airport Limited, and is by far the busiest and biggest of the New Zealand airports. This airport annually accommodates more than 13 million passengers and is situated near the business district of Auckland. Airlines that operate from the Auckland International Airport, includes Air New Zealand, Emirates, Qantas, Thai Airlines, Virgin Blue, Malaysia Airlines and Jetstar Airways.

The other long distance international New Zealand airport is Christchurch International Airport that was established in 1935. Even though this airport is not as big as Auckland International Airport, it still has just under 6 million passengers walk through its doors in a year, and also has major airlines such as Air New Zealand, Air Pacific, Emirates, Jetstar, Qantas, Virgin Blue and Singapore Airlines operating from its terminals.

Airports such as Palmerston North International Airport are domestic airports with limited international flights. Palmerston North International Airport for instance, handles approximately 550 000 passengers in a year, with about 700 monthly scheduled flights. They have a limited number of airlines that operate from their terminals, such as Air Nelson, Air New Zealand, Freedom Air, Eagle Airways and Mount Cooke Airline.

Wanaka Airport, for example, is a domestic airport. It has a daily flight, once a day, to and from Christchurch, but concentrates mainly on chartered flight operations, chartered helicopter flights, helicopter training facilities and recreational facilities for privately owned aircrafts and skydiving and parachuting enthusiasts.

Airports in New Zealand: