International baggage hall extension completed

8 December 2014

International baggage hall extension completed

Auckland Airport has completed the first stage of an extension to its international baggage hall.

A 90m extension and a sixth baggage belt opened this month, capable of handling over 500 passengers from an Airbus A380 flight.

Work on a seventh belt will start early next year.

The Ministry of Primary Industries’ biosecurity area adjacent to the international baggage hall has also been extended to provide increased space and improved flow for biosecurity checks.

Graham Matthews, Auckland Airport’s general manager airport development and delivery, says, “It’s great the work on the baggage hall has been finished in time for the airport’s busy summer season.”

As well as offering greater efficiencies for passengers collecting luggage and clearing biosecurity, the improvements also include features to create a warmer and more welcoming atmosphere for travellers and staff alike.

The walls are wooden panels engraved with maps of New Zealand and lined with images of pohutukawa and other native plants.

“The extension to the baggage hall and customs completes one of several construction projects that mark the first phase of the airport’s new combined domestic and international terminal. The development will be staged to meet an anticipated trebling of passengers using the airport over the next 30 years to 40 million people each year,” says Mr Matthews.

ENDS

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