Photo / Alex Burton
Auckland Airport has pinpointed the busiest days in July and says a busy elite sports calender will add pressure on travel as it gears up for the July school holidays.
Air New Zealand is emerging from a bumpy week of Dreamliner problems on international flights and has added more domestic seats and staff to help passengers process themselves. It is also advised passengers to get travel insurance in case of weather disruption
Auckland Airport’s chief customer officer Scott Tasker acknowledges that travellers’ experiences haven’t been as smooth as what customers would expect, especially in the international arrivals area.
“The airport really is an ecosystem, where everyone across the aviation system plays a part to make sure it operates as efficiently and effortlessly as possible, so we’ve looked at where we can ease that arrivals journey while still ensuring effective border processes, particularly during the daily peaks.”
Last week travellers reported long queues getting through international processing.
Repair work needed on areas flooded during Auckland’s severe weather in late January is still under way.
“It’s important all the water-damaged areas are thoroughly dried out before the wall linings are reinstalled. We’re also working through the replacement of the international check-in systems and equipment affected by floodwater, so you’ll see some hoardings in place, but everything is functioning close to normal,” Tasker said.
Based on forecasts, international departures started to build from Tuesday, June 27 and peak on Saturday (July 1), the first day of the school holidays, which will be the busiest day of departures for the month with an estimated 15,000 people flying overseas from Auckland. Internationally, Australia, the United States and China are the most popular destinations, with Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown leading the list of domestic destinations this July.
“The final weekend of the school holidays, which includes the Matariki celebration, is when arrivals will be most busy as families return – hopefully nice and refreshed – for the start of term three,” said Tasker.
Auckland Airport’s biggest days:
Three busiest days for international arrivals: Sunday July 16, Sunday July 9, Saturday July 15
Three busiest days for international departures: Saturday July 1, Friday June 30, Thursday June 29
Three busiest days for domestic arrivals: Friday July 7, Friday July 14, Friday June 30
Three busiest days for domestic departures: Friday July 7, Friday June 30 , Friday July 14.
Tasker says travellers will be rubbing shoulders with sports stars and their supporters during the July school holidays at Auckland Airport.
With the Fifa Women’s World Cup kicking off across New Zealand and Australia from July 20, the Silver Ferns heading to South Africa for the Netball World Cup, and the All Blacks contesting the Rugby Championship both here and abroad it is a big month for travelling sports teams and their fans at Auckland Airport.
Managing the arrival of high-profile sports teams and their support crews from across the globe has meant months of planning between the team at Auckland Airport and its aviation system partners.
“We’re a pretty sport- mad bunch at Auckland Airport so it’s going to be a real treat to welcome and farewell all this international talent to Aotearoa New Zealand. Sports people typically travel with quite a bit of gear, so we’ve got plans in place to manage that,” he said.
Air New Zealand will operate more than 580,000 seats across 6500 flights on its domestic network, 45,000 more than last year’s July school holidays when it was hit hard by weather disruption.
Internationally, more than 1300 flights are scheduled. Sydney is the most popular destination.
Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty says the airline is well prepared to connect New Zealanders with each other and the world this school holidays.
“We’ve seen huge demand for travel across Aotearoa New Zealand over the school holiday period. To cater to this, we have added an extra 45,000 seats across nearly 500 flights to our domestic network, compared with the same school holiday period last year. On average, that’s an additional 3000 seats per day,” she said.
Queenstown is the most popular destination on the New Zealand network, with nearly 70,000 seats in and out of the wintery favourite from Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.
“Our teams are working hard to prepare for the holiday demand, including increasing staff numbers where needed and enabling more customers to self-serve during their travel experience. Our goal is to provide customers with the smoothest travel experience possible.”
Demand for travel across the two motu is also up this year, with customers keen to hop between the North and South islands. Air New Zealand has increased seats available on flights between Christchurch and Rotorua by 55 per cent, Christchurch and Tauranga by 40 per cent, and Auckland and Blenheim by 26 per cent compared with the 2022 school holidays.
Internationally, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are the most popular destinations for travellers with Air New Zealand, followed by Singapore and Nadi rounding out the top five.
Geraghty said there were still seats available across the domestic and international networks, so anyone keen to embrace spontaneity and book a last-minute getaway should get in quick before seats sell out.
The airline advises the following:
* Download the Air NZ mobile app and subscribe to its Travel Alert service to keep up to date on the go
* Allow plenty of time to get to the airport and through security as it can take a little longer than usual – especially with extra winter gear
* Book travel insurance to ensure you’re protected in the event of a weather-related disruption (which can be more frequent in the winter months!)
Auckland Airport says in June there were 23 international airlines flying to 39 destinations. June 2019 (pre-Covid) there were 27 airlines flying to 42 destinations.
International capacity is at 91 per cent of 2019.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
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