Auckland Int'l Airport Passenger Reviews and Auckland Airport Traveller Reports

This airport is purely and simply a cash cow. The casual parking rates are simply outrageous. The airport company obviously does not want the public to linger in the terminal. But if you do want to linger it has all the ambience of a super large McDonald's. Not a public minded airport in any way.

Upon traveling in and out of Auckland International airport recently we found the following disasters: Toilets were filthy, flushing systems not working, some mens toilets closed off. Food preferences at 7.00 am were poor, with no cooked breakfasts available at all, only cold sandwiches or muffins and coffee, although the bar was open for alcoholic drinks! Electronic passport processing was not working properly with some machines sign posted as 'Not Working', No electronic processing at all through customs clearance upon departure. Poor assistance from airport staff in respect of electronic passport issues. Staff being too few and difficult to identify and mostly talking one another, referring me to other machines (I tried 4 unsuccessfully) or to other staff members. A total lack of warmth from mostly foreign staff with poor English language or Kiwi culture knowledge. I felt like a foreigner in my home town. Lastly, I resented being hindered by foreign Duty Free shopping staff as I moved through to Customs. Overall a poor International airport experience and a poor reflection of the real New Zealand culture.

Very modern, clean and efficient airport. The sounds and the setting are a lovely way to enter NZ. A far cry from the sterile, dilapidated interiors we are used to in the UK. Passing through security was a breeze and the staff very helpful and friendly.

Airport is generally good, staff are friendly and, for a small airport, the facilities are excellent. Only gripe is the queue at immigration on the way in - one person at the desk and a 40 minute wait really isn't good enough.

Arrived from SYD. Everything was fine until the Immigration line. The lines were amazingly long, and it appears there were only 3 officers working. After immigration / customs, was able to acquire the rental car, and out of the parking lot within 20 minutes.

What an extraordinary range of reviews for this airport and I guess it reflects different times / dates and expectations. I use it fairly regularly - admittedly mostly going to and from Aus, and have found it very good (far superior to Sydney). I agree with the comments about the pushy Duty Free salesman but overall I always find going in and out, either alone or with my infant son, very easy. On a recent arrival I mentioned the pushchair had been on the beach and in the forest in North Queensland and they happily took it away and cleaned the wheels thoroughly - great service! Enough food options - how many do you need? And with one exception I have found all customs immigration staff very helpful and friendly.

The airport is now contemporary and modern, with excellent shopping. Staff are friendly but obtrusive, and most surprisingly many don't know what they are talking about. So, double check. I was assured a window seat on TG but was seated smack bang in the middle. The girl at the curio shop asked how I sneaked through with a duty free bag. Strange. Small and cosy airport that mostly serves the Pacific islands. It would qualify as a small section of LAX. Like in the US they don't stamp your passport on your way out. Upside: If you are flying in from the west or north at day time get your camera ready for some great sights as you approach the Island. The drive to the city on a sunny winter day has gorgeous views. Rolling hills, crisp cool air, bright sunny skies. Its breath taking. As for Auckland Airport: its pretty mediocre. Its getting into and out of the airport by air, or land that's so scenic.

In regard to the previous comment, if you're from a foreign country you should expect to be questioned on arrival. In regards to finding your gate number I admit I've always found it a bit odd at Auckland that check in sometimes don't know it but the information is easily available on the many information boards before and after you pass through security. Auckland is a good airport and is a breeze to use, polite helpful staff, and a large departure hall, plentiful food outlets and you don't have to walk miles to get to your gate. You also don't get ambushed by staff trying to sell you things, as you do at many American airports as you walk through duty free to reach your gate. The arrivals hall is attached to departures so if you need to transfer its a 2 minute walk. Buses / taxis etc are within easy reach and there is a 24 hour airport bus service to the centre of Auckland for 16 NZD. If you want an airport with poor transfer links, try Sydney! Auckland has got it right, be it the staff or the facilitates.

I didn't like this airport one bit! They questioned me when I got there. On leaving the airport they don't even give you a Gate #. This is unacceptable in my home airport LAX because its extremely busy and they could never waste time like they do in Auckland. This place is not satisfactory at all! This was as bad as Canada (YVR). Yet, for some reason, Heathrow is much better.

Arrival and departure were fast, pleasant and welcoming airport staff, customs and immigration, easy access to the city and to the domestic terminal. Nothing to complain about.

Arriving at Auckland was a breeze. Aircraft door to car park in 25 minutes. Staff were helpful and welcoming, the Immigration officer spotted that my birthday was in a few days time and wished me a happy birthday. MAF officer couldn't have been more helpful in addressing a quarantine query. I realise that I could have been behind several hundred passengers who had just touched down before my flight and indeed I have been in that queue! However I have always found that the staff who work at the airport seem to go out of their way to say "Welcome to New Zealand we are glad you have come to visit us." Many other international airports could learn a lot from the officials at AKL.

Found the airport to be clean, and well staffed. Staff were friendly and our bags came through very quickly. Even the customs staff were friendly and helpful!

Into AKL on EK, Thursday 18 Oct, exiting 11 November. A game of two halves: arrival was a pretty fraught process, because EK have so timetabled it that two A380s and a B777 arrive within half an hour of each other (early afternoon), and the baggage hall is not really large enough to deal easily with that number of people at once. The E-gates work fine. Departure was much better; EK had extra staff on to speed up check-in, and the two Pier B gates have enough room, just, to cope with two A380s' worth of departing passengers. For once the duty-free was decently priced. I still like AKL, but its international baggage collection now needs work.

My Biggest complaint about this airport is the lack of free wifi. The food options are not great airside (we ended up with a microwave heated chicken roll, grim) and pricey. There is a McDonalds on arrival and upstairs on departures there is quite a few good eating options. One person commented on the touts at the duty free on arrival, I also find this bizarre, and disconcerting after a long flight. All in all, it tries hard, but you will see from these reviews that Kiwis think it is fab, but other nationalities know it could do better. The smart gate passport readers are not OK for under 16s, so if you are travelling with a family, they are useless.

MEL-AKL arrived at 10.45pm, in the car and away within 20 minutes incl collecting luggage, that's pretty good isn't it.

Last used ten days ago when returning from Brisbane. I agree with parts of most of the latest reviews, although from this first page you would think people are talking about two completely different airports! Yes, it is a long walk to/from either Gates 14/15 (Virgin Australia or the A380s), and also those at the end of the main pier (9, 10 etc), and I was surprised that there is no travelator in the main pier (possibly because the corridor is a bit too narrow to safely install one). However, the entry through the carved Maori gate, with accompanying music, is far superior to any other airport I've ever seen. I, too, resent having to walk through the duty-free shops to reach Immigration, but Smartgate makes up for that - kiosk and photo took no more than 60 seconds. MAF was no problem, and I was outside 25 minutes after leaving the aircraft. Departure had also been easy - short queue to drop my bag as I had checked in on-line, although again there is the long walk to the far gates. Food prices, although a bit expensive, are still far less than at Australian airports.

I don't appreciate getting off a long flight from Narita to be assailed by touts from Duty Free Stores and JR Duty Free. But this is Auckland Airport. It's all about making a buck. Don't worry about the passengers or those visiting the airport. Toilets are dire too!

Auckland Airport is my home airport and is usually a pleasure to pass through it. The check-in area is spacious and I've never waited too long to check-in. Upstairs and airside, there are a wide range of shops. Yes - the prices are high in some eateries, but that's common in many airports around the world. Sure, the walk to/from the farthest gates is quite long, but no worse than other big airports. Arriving, it's lovely to have Maori music playing beside the big Maori carving gate. The path through to the immigration gates between the two duty-free stores is now much clearer than it used to be. As a New Zealand passport holder, I can make use of the Smartgate system - so quick and easy. Auckland Airport does now have a hotel right beside the international terminal, which is great for those people with early departures or with long layovers. Granted, this is not a 'transit hotel' as such, as you have to go through immigration, but true 'transit hotels' are few and far between in airports around the world (Singapore & Dubai being two notable exceptions.). One major down point I will accept is that there is no train service to Auckland Airport. The Auckland Council is thinking about changing this, but it could be some years away yet. There's also no direct road from the airport to the city. You have to connect between two motorways via city streets (with traffic lights).

My wife and I arrived here after a great flight from Sunshine Coast Airport in Queensland. The first problem was the connection to the plane itself which was faulty and we waited on board for approx 25 minutes to get off! The walk from where our A320 landed was at least one km long, two small moving stairways. An airport staff member passed everybody quickly on a 4 person golf cart but never offered to take anybody with him. The shuttle bus to the domestic terminal is a disgrace, running every 15 minutes or seemingly at the will of the driver. For elderly passengers to fight their way on to this struggling with heavy cases is downright dangerous. The airport is in our case a necessary evil, we would avoid it if we could. Our flight was DJ8068 on 2/9/12.

I travel to more than 50 airports every year and Auckland airport is the worst airport of all. Long queue at the customs (sometimes only one immigration officer working), strict immigration, unfriendly airline agents and unorganized airline staff and too many giftshops, no transit hotels. I feel this airport is not welcoming tourists. My advice is to avoid Auckland, if you really need to use it, then transit only.

The airport is now much better than when we first were there 4 years ago. The renovations have really improved the place. Wait times for your bags is slow though, almost as bad as Melbourne. Was impressed.

Awful airport, very disorganised both on arrivals and departures. Immigration and customs staff are the most unfriendly people I've ever encountered, akin to a prison. Baggage was an abysmal wait. Not impressed at all.

A lovely airport with (usually) pleasant staffing. Unfortunately baggage retrieval was again slow, only equalled by Tullamarine and as per usual the MAF counter was undermanned and poorly organized. (Why is bureaucracy synonymous with bad management?). This is not unique to here but that's a poor excuse. Also, airlines landing in clusters seem to predicate baggage jams and grumpy processing. WiFi and charging stations would be helpful to travellers.

Despite having arrived in AKL alongside a few other flights, going through arrivals was very streamlined and quite efficient. Smartgates for NZ/AU passport holders helped me bypass the long queues, my bags were promptly on the carousel, and going through MAF checkpoint was quick. All in all, got from the plane to the arrivals hall in about 15-20 minutes. A nice end to a 25-hour trip that started in Newark.

The airport seems to be very modern and has recently been renovated. I like the use of the new smart gate for AUS/NZ Travellers as it will now speed up waiting times for those of other ethnicities.

I have always found arriving at Auckland International Terminal to be a refreshing experience. The walk from the A380 gates is slightly on the long side. I like being able to pick up my pre-ordered duty free shopping on arrival. Fortunately there were no other flights being processed so there were no queues at Immigration where the officer was equally welcoming. Bags were arriving on the carousel by the time passengers reached the baggage hall and MAF procedures were completed with the minimum of delay. I know processing can take longer but after a 30 hour journey 35 minutes from leaving the aircraft to greeting my waiting family.

By far the worst airport I've been to. I have travelled a lot to Auckland (3 or 4 times a year) and each time I've never had a good experience with this airport. Staff are so unfriendly, they never smile and appeared to be sarcastic. Food prices are expensive and the airport is old. Always had long queues at customs - last time it took me one hour. What a waste of time!

The baggage area in the arrivals hall is horrible. The floor looks old and signage is unclear. I arrived in the afternoon, about 10 flights landed at the same time. The baggage hall was so full that passengers could not move. I blame the airport for the poor outdated design of the arrivals hall and trying to land too many passengers. Many passengers were confused near the exit, blocking the way as they were trying to figure their way out.

It is disappointing that at busy times in the arrivals area at the International Terminal their is a conspicuous absence of Airport Staff to keep people moving from the exit after leaving the security area to the public meet and greet. Delay in updating "International" flight arrival times by Auckland Airport on its website and flight arrival boards is most frustrating for persons meeting arriving travellers. This situation which happens far too often is grossly unfair and in a situation that can cost the waiting public dearly when they are required to pay for the additional car parking charges which would be avoided if the correct times were posted/advertised on the Airport's website and flight arrival boards.

Arrived off MH131 from KUL. Baggage claim area, hot small and had to fight the crowds to get near our bags. Reached the gate where NZ/Aust passport holders walk through only to be shunted to other passports by rude staff and made to wait 2 hours with at least 250 other travellers while we were herded through bio security and x-ray procedures. What a disgrace. What's worse is the NZ/Aust side was completely empty with staff standing around talking. I have been to many airports worldwide and Auckland International would be by far the worst so far.

Int'l terminal is bright and compact with lots of signage. Arrival procedures are quick and painless. Immigration is fast and friendly. The only snag is baggage pickup which can be slow sometimes, but that may be more the fault of the airline. Departure procedures are surprisingly quick. Domestic terminal is a bit dated, and there's hardly any F&B past security. However, it's so compact it takes less than two minutes to walk from the security checkpoint to the gate. The only thing I hate about the airport is its lack of good public transport and the fact that there's no direct motorway access to the airport.