"This Friday is going to be particularly busy, with the subsequent Fridays rounding out the top three busiest departure days – at both the domestic and international terminals. On the arrivals side it tends to be the weekends that are busiest."
This weekend Air New Zealand says they will be back to three quarters capacity on their international and domestic networks. The airline said it was the busiest period in memory, restarting 16 international routes in as many days. The appetite for winter sun is helping boost the recovery of international routes.
The Sunshine Coast, Hobart and Adelaide are back online this weekend, as are Noumea, Honolulu and Pape'ete.
This boosts the total number of international destinations connected to Auckland to 33 served by 18 airlines
Take the family line
For the duration of the school holidays Auckland airport will be running a dedicated line for families with young children. These will operating outbound through security screening and inbound via biosecurity and customs for arrivals.
The plan is to
Developed with the New Zealand border agency, they were first trialled in the summer of 2019/20. However it's only now that school holiday traffic has picked up enough to warrant the use of family only lines.
Cassels-Brown says the lines are there to take pressure off family groups and make sure the screening pinch points operate "as smoothly as possible".
Don't travel hungry - bring your own snacks
While travellers' appetite for international travel is clear, many food and beverage options in the terminal are yet to return to pre-pandemic operations.
Particularly in the evenings, there are slim pickings on food services in the international terminal. Labour shortages mean that the airport expects food and retail will continue to be limited.
"If travelling with children especially, please consider bringing snacks," says Cassels-Brown
Plan your parking to bypass building works
Adding to the calculations of travellers are the ongoing construction projects in front of the International Terminal. The site of the new public transport hub has closed car parks, meaning the closest spaces are an additional 10 minutes away at D and E.
While a shuttle will be running every 7 minutes from park and ride to the International Terminal, passengers are advised to arrive in plenty of time.
The busiest days for travel
The start of the holidays on Friday 8 July is set to be the busiest for outbound domestic and international travel, with international arrivals peaking on Sunday 10 July.
If you want to beat the crunch of returning passengers, Friday 22 July is expected to be the busiest day for arrivals in domestic and international terminals as the holidays end.
Three busiest days for international arrivals: Sunday 10 July, Saturday 16 July, Saturday 23 July
Three busiest days for international departures: Friday 8 July, Friday 15 July, Friday 22 July
Three busiest days for domestic arrivals: Friday 8 July, Sunday 10 July, Friday 22 July,
Three busiest days for domestic departures: Friday 8 July, Friday 15 July, Friday 22 July
