Christchurch International Airport is the second busiest airport in New Zealand after Auckland and is located around 12 km to the northwest of the city. Christchurch Airport and Auckland are the only airports in New Zealand able to handle the Boeing 777 and 747.
The airport opened in 1940 and then years later became the first international airport in New Zealand. Since then to accomodate the increasing passengers numbers, Christchurch Airport has been redeveloped and improved many times, the last one included the building of a new car park building, control tower and a new terminal (completed in 2012). About 12 airlines have scheduled services at Christchurch Airport. Most of them to destinations in the Pacific and Australia although further-off destinations like Bangkok and Taipei are also served.
Christchurch International Airport is not a large airport so there are not many flights departing here. There are only a few destinations that you can reach from Christchurch International Airport, most of these are operated by Air New Zealand. Many people take a flight to Auckland and transfer to another flight there.
Auckland (AKL)