The Front Page: What is causing the chaos at the Auckland Airport?

Frustrated passenger James Ryan described the airport as "madhouse" amid lengthy wait lines for arriving passengers. Photo / James Ryan

In the past week, Auckland Airport has been called “Mickey Mouse”, an “absolute zoo” and a “madhouse”.

These disparaging criticisms come amid lengthy delays that have left travellers deeply frustrated at the quality of the service they’re receiving.

NZ Herald deputy business editor Grant Bradley tells The Front Page podcast that the aviation system is complex and many factors have contributed to these backlogs.

“It’s worth remembering that Auckland Airport handles 15 million passengers a year at the moment,” he says.

“That’s still down on pre-Covid numbers, but that’s an awful lot of people going through the airport. While most people have a pretty good experience, we’re now seeing an unacceptable number of people who aren’t – and it’s a terrible look for the country’s international gateway.”

Bradley says the main problem lies in the number of flights we currently have arriving at the same time.

“That’s not necessarily the airport’s fault,” he says.

“The aviation system is complex. There are delays at other airports and problems along the way. This exacerbates problems on the ground, where Auckland Airport is doing a lot of construction work throughout its entire operation.”

Further delays are caused by New Zealand’s biosecurity protocols, which are some of the strictest in the world to ensure our unique environment is protected.

“MPI [the Ministry for Primary Industries] is looking to introduce a trial whereby they’re going to identify biosecurity risks earlier in the system, so that not everyone’s bag needs to be scanned. That could free up the system a little.”

These delays aren’t anything new. Before Covid, news media would regularly report on issues caused by the traffic levels at the airport.

“Before the pandemic, there was a massive increase in passenger numbers as tourism boomed. There were around 17 million passengers a year. The problems over the last decade have ranged from traffic jams on roads leading to the airport to problems with paving on the runway. Again, this is not necessarily the airport company’s fault, but they’re putting on the party and seem to cop a lot of the criticism.”

• So, are there any hopes of these issues being alleviated over time?
• Have the understaffing issues finally settled down?
• And will the construction project smooth out processes in the future?

Listen to the full episode of The Front Page podcast to hear more from Bradley on the slow trudge travellers face through Auckland Airport.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. It is presented by Damien Venuto, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in business reporting who joined the Herald in 2017.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.