14 Dec 2021

Auckland's border reopening: 7500 people booked to fly out of city tomorrow

10:04 am on 14 December 2021

Air New Zealand has 7500 passengers flying out of Auckland tomorrow when the city's border opens.

Air New Zealand planes parked up at Auckland Airport during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Air New Zealand planes at Auckland Airport. Photo: Supplied/ Air NZ

In addition, the airline said there were almost 4500 people from around the country flying in.

Overall the company has almost 21,000 passengers booked across its network for the day.

The top three destinations for Aucklanders are Wellington - which can expect 1800 people, Christchurch, which is getting 1700, and 1200 will land in Queenstown.

From today, passengers must show a vaccine pass or evidence of a negative Covid-19 test within the previous 72 hours before travelling.

Rapid antigen tests, which become available for use tomorrow, will also be accepted.

The airline is recommending those wanting to travel without a vaccine pass arrive about an hour earlier to check in.

Air New Zealand spokesperson Leanna Geraghty told First Up if passengers uploaded their vaccine pass to their Airpoints profile ahead of time then checking in would be as usual.

About 110,000 members have uploaded theirs since the function was made available.

It was also recommended that masks be worn through the airport terminal and onboard the aircraft, Geraghty said.

A "soft launch" of the system yesterday went "incredibly well" according to feedback from staff and customers, she said.