Wellington Airport

Not Verified | I was flying home to Queenstown on 14/1/23 for a 8.30am and was lining up at security with Christchurch and Auckland flights they had one security line working. Christchurch flight was first and people were panicking as they were calling out the final calls. There was a man on security checking people and screaming at the customers, I’m 50 years old and have never in my life experienced a rude aggressive man like this before, my 11 year son has autism and he yelled at him to get through the screen, my husband had to tell the man to calm down as my son cried, I honestly don’t know why nobody on the security said anything to him. A Chinese family in front of us were screamed at as well. I totally understand the short staff issues but please have a nicer friendly people in security as this is part of New Zealand.

✅ Trip Verified | Ridiculous. It took 30 mins to get through security. Totally inadequate capacity. I was already in the queue when the first boarding call was made. Twenty minutes later I was still miles from the security inspection area when the final boarding call was made. What a joke.

✅ Trip Verified | For a capital city a very small airport, not enough facilities and few options for eating. Big thing I think you need here are portable device chargers I couldn't find one. Christchurch has them at every table everywhere, not just Christchurch but most airports.

✅ Trip Verified | I just want to bring to management's attention to the fact the sound system for flight announcements is extremely variable. I was in the seats directly in front of gates 18 and 19 and the announcements were barely audible. Neither male nor female voices could be heard clearly and I do not have a hearing impairment! The best announcement all afternoon was for Sounds Air and second was the cancellation of an Air NZ flight to Auckland which I heard in the toilets.

✅ Trip Verified | The Arrivals terminal of Wellington Airport is unbelievably sad. Only two A320 planes had landed, and the Arrivals terminal was at full capacity! Critical mass! The queue to get through Declarations was snaking around the only luggage carousel in the whole terminal. People were climbing over each other. It took 1.5hrs to get through this airport. The staff were slow and unmotivated. It is such a sad little place. To reach critical mass with only two planes in Arrivals is an embarrassment to New Zealand.

❎ Not Verified | Wellington airport is great to fly from internationally. More than enough seating once through immigration and the duty free shop is more than adequate. Check in for Singapore Airlines wasn't too busy considering the flight itself was full. The biggest gripe I have: no cafe open airside and I was hungry. All in all a very satisfactory experience.

✅ Trip Verified | The departure area is spacious and well laid out with plenty of different shops and cafes. Quite pleasant. The security area however does not open until 45 minutes before departure time. Not boarding time. The result is queues. Annoying queues. Where frankly it could have been as pleasant as security can be if it was opened 90 minutes before departure. The positive impressions I got from the initial departure area we soured greatly as I waited with the whole flight to pass through security at the same time. This leads me to suggest that the airport security team are setup to cater to their own needs. Not that of the customer. Efficiency gone mad in my opinion. Thanks Wellington Airport. You may have saved a few dollars on paying your staff an extra 45 minutes of wages. Or saved money on your power bill. But it cost you any positive review from me.

❎ Not Verified | Bought food at two places and both was utterly disgusting. Couldn't finish either meal and both were $15+. Went to get a smoothie instead thinking who could possibly muck up something so simple. Well Wellington airport can - it was basically a cup of apple juice with a teaspoon of yoghurt and two strawberries for $7. Was an acidic mess. To top it off the seating area provided for dining was filthy. Please try to do better! Warning to all - eat at home or just buy a packaged snack at the book shop - I promise it will taste better.

❎ Unverified | I cannot believe the queues at Wellington Airport. I was on a small plane arriving from Melbourne. The flight wasn't even full, yet the queuing started almost immediately. The first for seemingly no reason at all. I have no idea what the holdup was. Then towards the so-called smart gates, of which there were only three. People took forever to go through so I queued up with others at the all passports desks (again of which there were only three). It took forever! I had no baggage to claim and yet I had to queue up with others in order to get to customs. My card had been marked as clear as I had nothing to declare but there was no option to go straight through, but wait in single file. Meanwhile, a friend, waiting to pick me up wondered where the hell I'd got to. It took close to an hour after getting off the plane. Wellington airport is way too small - the corridors are narrow, there are not enough smart gates to make things flow smoothly. It just feels cramped and very badly designed. I also had to queue for ages just to buy a bottle of wine at duty free. I'd absolutely had enough by then. Wellington needs to learn a few things from Melbourne airport where I was out of the airport within 15 minutes.

❎ Unverified | Luggage arrived very quickly. But huge queues at Immigration and Customs. No 'fast track' for Business Class, this is the first airport I've come across this! But staff were excellent and friendly. Lots of taxis waiting. Taxi was good. Great driver and helpful.