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 Melbourne and transfer to another flight there.
Cheapest option is to take one of the city public bus routes which regularly stop at the terminal: the Purple route to Sumner, line 29 to the center and line 125 to Halswell. A trip to the centre from the stop at the airport would cost $8 in cash (or $2.50 if using Metrocard) To save some money you can walk outside the airport and catch the same bus at a bus stop outside the airport for only $3.50.
Several door-to-door shuttle services are available as well ($25 per person, $4 for the subsequent person).
At the airport you can find many car rental companies and taxis. Expect to pay NZ $50 to $70 for the 20 minute taxi ride into the city.
All prices quoted here were found in July 2017
