Auckland Airport

It seems on the surface to have quite a few shops both before going through immigration and after. But on closer inspection they are pretty much the same shops repeated over and over. There are definitely a lot of food options but in my opinion the better range of options is before going through immigration. I had the opportunity to have to spend far too much time at the airport when travelling to Fiji and you really notice things. It is fine if you only have an hour or two to kill but if because you have to wait for ages because you live outside of Auckland you have 5 or 6 hours to kill not so great. The lesson learned try no to be at the airport any longer than you have to.

I just read a damning review on Auckland airport comparing it to LA. I've only been in LA for transfer and it was a few years ago but I have said never again. It is small enough to find your way around and big enough to have everything you need. Auckland airport greets you on arrival with beautiful Maori music as you walk through a huge carved entrance-way. The corridors are lined with lovely photos of NZ life. Sure you enter though duty-free but it's easy to ignore. The airport is spotless. The best bit though is the friendly staff even at immigration. I am sure that Singapore and Bangkok are bigger and better but for a medium sized airport the only fault that I can find is the lack of wi-fi.

I have travelled quite extensively. The Air NZ check in at Mangere is probably the worst I have experienced! There was no procedure - suitcases trolleys people nobody knew where to queue elderly people had no clue on how to get their boarding pass and 4 assistants to help the masses. This area definitely needs looking at. Bring back the old way!

Arrived from Honolulu at 7.10am on 2nd March to find the immigration line very long. I was in the NZ passport/resident line. Even though the line was long there was only One immigration officer on duty unbelievable. I have never experienced this at AKL in the past always very efficient. As it happened I missed my connection flight.

By far the best airport in the region. Check in area was great and did not look dated (International Terminal). Upstairs there was a lot of options in the food court and duty free. In the customs/immigration the backlog was cleared super-fast and into the departures area which looked stunning. To the far end you could see planes take off and land and slightly to the left after immigration is a entire aisle of duty free. Forex trading were everywhere. Easy to find a seat and my gate (gate 2) was just around the corner. If you walk a little further there was a gate where you can call (NZ only) back to your home for free. No doubt I'd be happy to use this airport again.

So impressed with how fast from gate to out of the airport. Friendly customs staff bags always available quickly.

Overall Auckland airport is quite compact and convenient. Smoking area in the international terminal is a big plus though it is closed from 9pm till about 5 am. The toilets are generally clean but scarce. The biggest downside however is that the airport has recently changed the world wide accepted policy of providing free airport shuttle to nearby airport hotels and now charges 6$ per person for the shuttles that come once in half an hour. So even if you are staying at Ibis hotel which is about 10 minutes walk from the terminal but can't walk because you have bags or its raining you need to pay 6$ per person to get to the already overpriced hotel. A taxi will charge you 20$ for the 2-3 minutes ride. I am not sure whether the latter is resulting from airport policy but I find this to be a total rip off.

Departing AKL for DXB/GLA 11 November 2013. A quiet day hence prompt queues for the outgoing security & passport control (ie. through in about five minutes). Allow ten minutes to get to the Pier B gates if you are on an EK flight. Food & beverage options landside could be better.

Auckland Airport was very clean comfortable and safe! There was limited shopping and food available but more than satisfactory for a short stop over.

My sister and I had arrived from Melbourne on EK406 at 1.20pm we were travelling with 10 month old twins the first thing she asked the flight attendants was whether there were any strollers for the babies the reply "none". I had complained to a member of staff the reply was travelers bring their own strollers does he know they get taken away at the boarding gate? Two ground staff members came past dragging three wheel chairs between them I asked where the strollers were for the babies the reply "This is the only Airport that don't have any". There were strollers at Melbourne's arrival gate.