Christchurch Airport

This is Christchurch Airport, an international airport that now operates 24 hours a day. It’s located about 12 kilometers northwest of the city center, in Harewood. This airport officially opened on May 18, 1940, and by December 16, 1950, it became New Zealand's first international airport. It's the second busiest in New Zealand for passengers and aircraft movements, after Auckland, and it's one of only two airports in the country that regularly handles the Airbus A380.

The prevailing wind here is mostly from the northeast, and a bit from the southwest, but the city also gets the nor’wester foehn wind from Canterbury. Because of this, the airport has two runways that are perpendicular to each other. The main one is 3,288 meters long and is aligned with the north-easterly and south-westerly winds. The secondary runway is 1,741 meters long and is set up for use during those nor’westers. There’s also a third grass runway, parallel to the main one, for general aviation.

Back in 1935, the local council decided Harewood was the best spot for a new aerodrome for Christchurch. Development started in 1936 when 227 hectares of land were bought. By 1937, they had built a 915-meter runway and a 60-square-meter terminal. The airport became RNZAF Station Harewood in 1940.

By 1946, the terminal area had hangars, a small terminal building, a water tower, and some barracks. In 1950, Christchurch Airport got government clearance for international operations. The idea for two runways and a parallel taxiway was established in 1953. The main runway was 2,012 meters long at that point, and the secondary one was 1,741 meters. In 1954, TEAL started using Douglas DC-6 aircraft for trans-Tasman services. A new terminal building, designed by Paul Pascoe, opened in February 1960.

In November 1963, the main runway was extended by 427 meters, making it 2,438 meters long to handle commercial jet operations. Qantas started scheduled jet services to Sydney using the Boeing 707 in April 1965. An international wing was added to the domestic terminal in 1966. The first scheduled Boeing 747 service to land in New Zealand arrived here on December 3, 1972, a Qantas flight from Sydney.

In September 1998, a new international terminal building was completed, adding 28,000 square meters of floor space. They also completed an expansion of the international terminal in 2004, which created five more international gates. To handle more passengers, the airport finished a big terminal upgrade, with the main wing of the new construction opening in 2011, and the whole upgrade completed in 2013.