Auckland Airport

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.