About Christchurch Airport

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Christchurch International Airport (IATA: CHC, ICAO: NZCH) is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located 12 kilometres to the northwest of the city centre, in the suburb of Harewood. Christchurch (Harewood) Airport officially opened on 18 May 1940 and became New Zealand's first international airport on 16 December 1950.

Christchurch Airport is the second busiest airport in New Zealand after Auckland by both annual passengers and aircraft movements. Christchurch along with Auckland are the only two airports in New Zealand to regularly handle Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 aircraft. The airport is curfew free operating 24 hours a day.

The prevailing wind in Christchurch is from the north-east and to a lesser extent from the south-west, but the city is also affected by Canterbury's nor'wester foehn wind.

As a result, the airport has two perpendicular runways: a 3288 m primary runway (02/20) orientated with the north-easterly and south-westerly prevailing winds, and a 1741 m secondary runway (11/29) orientated for use during nor'westers. The airport also has a third grass runway, parallel to the primary runway, for use by general aviation.

Due to increasing passenger numbers, the airport has completed construction of a major terminal upgrade. The new construction's primary wing opened in 2011 and the upgrade was completed in 2013. Christchurch Airport consists of a single terminal which caters for both domestic and international flights. It is situated at the intersection of the two sealed runways.

The main terminal building contains a combined check-in hall for both domestic and international flights. It has 58 check-in counters, in addition to self-service check-in kiosks. A common baggage claim hall is also located on the ground floor. There is a large retail area on the first floor, with many food and retail outlets as well as waiting areas. A major feature of the terminal is a $15 million state-of-the-art baggage handling system, which is 750 metres long.

The airport has 33 gates in total. The regional wing is located in the south-west of the terminal, and handles all Air New Zealand Link turboprop flights. It has 12 gates, numbered 3-14. The central zone handles mainline Air New Zealand and Jetstar domestic services and has eight gates (15-22); all (except Gate 15, which can be shared with turboprops) are equipped with jetbridges. The international wing is located in the north-east section of the terminal and has 12 gates (24-35), all except 31 and 33 have jetbridges. Gates 21/24 and 22/25 are shared swing gates which can be used for domestic or international flights as the need arises.

Gate 30 has a dual jetbridge which is used for the A380. When available it can also accommodate two narrow body jets gate position 30R and 30L. The size of the new integrated terminal at Christchurch Airport is 77,591m².

As of April 2015, Christchurch airport is served by 12 airlines with scheduled services. The airport has direct flights to 18 domestic and 11 international destinations. A total of 900 scheduled domestic and 157 international flights arrive and depart each week.

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