Auckland Airport

Not Verified | Auckland Airport domestic terminal is must be one of the worst airport I visit. Signage is terrible. Why don’t you have Bag drop A&B clearly written on a wall above the areas & indicate which town/city they are for Not on signage a metre high that is not able to be seen because of people standing around. Why, in a small country domestic airport do you even have two bag drops. The airport is so congested & for a user is confusing. Why do you have regional & main destinations. Why is everything not fed through one bag drop This countries not that big & this definitely makes it confusing for overseas visitors.

✅ Trip Verified | I've flown in and out of this airport several times. I've never had a negative experience at all in this airport, whether flying domestically or internationally. That said, I don't love this airport by any stretch of the imagination, as it's nicer than many major or equivalent airports in the USA but also an airport with several missed golden opportunities. Here's what I mean, and I'll start with what I like about AKL. First thing, when you get off the plane from an international flight, the artwork that greets you render no doubt that you're indeed in New Zealand. I've found the customs and immigration staff to be pleasant and professional, but also all business and not overly chatty, sounds good to me! Though Auckland isn't a huge airport, there is an ample amount of dining and duty-free shopping options, commensurate to the airport's size and traffic volume. It's generally clean, though there is a lot of construction taking place even still, as modernization is underway. If you're driving to the airport from the city, it's an easy 15-20 minute drive from the center city to the airport during non-peak traffic hours, however, getting there on public transportation is more cumbersome and requires more patience. As for the negatives, the Skybus tickets between the airport and the city can be a ripoff, and their staff rather grumpy, but that's more Skybus' fault than the airport's. The airport isn't ugly, but it also isn't as aesthetically pleasing as other Kiwi airports such as Wellington and Christchurch. While taking the bus to and from the airport can be a cumbersome, non-user-friendly process, at least during the process of paying for the fares and dragging luggage onto the bus, the bus terminal is easily accessible from the airport's main doors and the bus gets you to the southeast suburban train line fairly quickly. Thankfully, Auckland Council finally has plans to extend a train link to the airport sometime over the next decade. I also think they could stand to expand their dining and shopping options yet, as New Zealand is rapidly becoming a very popular tourist destination with more and more flights from the USA and Middle East. In summary, Auckland has a lot to improve upon, but they are also really trying to the right things where they count.

✅ Trip Verified | Very aggressive staff, completely unreasonable and threatening. Poor signposting and - for such a small airport - difficult to use. Auckland airport used to be friendly and I looked forwards to visiting but not any more. Worst airport experience of my life.

✅ Trip Verified | Half of the egates were closed because security screening was overloaded - but not all the screening stations were open. Buy your duty free before you arrive in Auckland e.g. 3 bottles on Tanqueray in Vancouver are CAD$60 (NZD$71.20), 2 bottles of Tanqueray at Auckland airport are NZD$75. Not a single power outlet or charging point at the departure gate - seats in the main shopping area have power outlets and USB charging points but none of them are functioning. Its really embarrassing that this is New Zealands primary airport.

Not Verified | Terrible airport suffering from lack of investment. Not enough aircraft stands. Had to wait 15 minutes! On arrival for ground crew to connect air stairs. On departure passengers pass customs before baggage screening meaning if you have and prohibited objects you can't take them back to family or friends. Complete lack of thought or customer care. Greedy management underfunding New Zealand's main airport.

✅ Trip Verified | After arriving at airport late because of an issue with SkyBus, I missed my flight by seconds. The Jetstar gate crew called out to me that the gate was closing so to run, so I ran but the skyway staff literally closed the gate in my face. Jetstar claimed that they’d been calling out my name but I heard several names getting called and didn’t hear mine. Reason I’m writing is because if the bag check people had a better system those who are running late could be made a priority. I can think of several ways to achieve this just off the top of my head, surely it can be done. I had planned to get to airport with ample time spare to have breakfast which obviously never happened, so it really wasn’t my fault that I was late. Fair enough if I arrived 2 minutes late, but this gate was literally closed in my face. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who missed a flight that morning because of SkyBus. I had a good trip home on SkyBus. It was just one of those things but a simple fix by Akl Airport could resolve this. If your boarding pass shows your flight is boarding then you get to jump the queue at bag check. I was too shy to push in front, wasn’t sure how I was going for time, or when my flight was boarding. This cost me an extra $289.

Not Verified | I hate how they force you through a curve just to try and give them slightly more time to make you buy duty free goods upon arrival. The transfer to domestic is an embarrassment by 21st century global standards (walk and shuttle are awful), and there is totally inadequate bag drop at both international and domestic terminals if you are transferring to a domestic flight. There obviously hasn't been any overall thought given to make this airport function efficiently. Departure lounges are small in both international and domestic, and every flight I have taken via Auckland recently has been delayed. Food options are poor and very expensive.

Not Verified | Our flight to HNL was departing at 23.55 and we got to the airport around 21.15pm. By about 21.30pm we had checked in and been through security. Most of it had to do with the fact we had already checked in online for Hawaiian airlines and thus avoided the horrendous queue everyone else appeared to be stood in, but you win some, you lose some. The return trip was much the same - breezed through customs, bag collect and bio so again, well done to AKL. Very rarely can one say this about an airport these days.

✅ Trip Verified | My wife and I spent nearly 2 hours at Auckland domestic terminal in the Koru lounge and the day was one of delays due to bad weather all over the country thus putting toilet facilities under immense pressure, but, For goodness sake Auckland Domestic terminal is not situated in a third world country and the toilet facilities at both ends of the terminal were a disgrace. Cubicles without toilet paper and the paper hand towels strewn all over the room, and at no stage did I see and cleaning staff within. I was embarrassed to see this area not having constant care, especially when the airlines are delayed and staff knowing that toilet areas would come under pressure with heavy usage.

Not Verified | Terrible airport, takes well over half an hour for them to load bags off the plane when there are hardly any flights. No seating for older people to sit on, great big unnecessary obstacles in the carparks to make it nearly impossible to get anywhere with a trolley.