The airport says the $147m project could cater to more domestic jet flights in future. Video / Auckland Airport
Air New Zealand and Auckland Airport have been named as among New Zealand’s top-ranking companies for trust in the 2025 Kantar Corporate Reputation Index.
The annual index rates the public perception of the country’s top 50 corporates across trust, leadership, fairness and responsibility, with Air New Zealand ranking in thirdplace and Auckland Airport in ninth – its highest-ever result.
Coming in first place for the second year running is Toyota New Zealand.
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran said being recognised for attributes such as responsibility and trust is “something our entire team will be very proud of”.
Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui highlighted its “ecosystem of partners working together” to improve its results for travellers.
Hurihanganui added that the result provided confidence that Auckland Airport was on the right track with its infrastructure programme, noting it has improved passenger processing times after focusing on pain points for travellers.
“Through operational improvements, collaboration and technology innovation, we’ve maintained the same high standards of security, but queues are shorter and processing times are much faster, particularly in domestic departures and international arrivals,” she said.
Auckland Airport says processing times for travellers have improved. Photo / Azaria Howell
International passengers arriving at Auckland Airport now take around 16 minutes from entering passport control and Customs to exiting into the public arrivals hall.
It’s a 17% improvement compared to the median processing time in 2019 (March 2019 to March 2025).
In November 2023, Biosecurity New Zealand and Auckland Airport introduced a new arrivals risk assessment process that significantly improved processing times.
Auckland Airport says that a redesigned layout also helped improve wait times as it accommodated more biosecurity officer desks and larger queuing areas.
Queues in the domestic terminal for departing passengers are also much shorter, with median queue times at Aviation Security falling by 40% from 6.03 minutes a year ago to 3.37 minutes (March 2024 to March 2025).
“We know we’ve still got more work to do to improve the experience for travellers, but the good news is there’s much more to come as we get on with building a new domestic jet terminal to serve New Zealand and the future generations of travel,” Hurihanganui said.
Dana McDonald, New Zealand Customs Service group manager of border operations, says technological advancements such as the digital New Zealand Traveller Declaration have helped facilitate a smoother arrival for passengers. At the same time, Customs continues to remain vigilant against harm or threat passing through the air border.
“Ensuring our busiest international airport remains a safe and secure gateway into our country is an ever-present focus and a joint effort across the airport network. It’s heartening to see this work recognised and reflected in New Zealanders’ confidence in Auckland Airport,” McDonald said.
Last year, Toyota, Pak’nSave and Air New Zealand shared the top spot in the Kantar rankings. Air New Zealand had been ranked number one for nine consecutive years prior to that.
