Wellington International Airport (WLG) is a great airport to fly from – it’s only 6km from the city centre, it’s newly renovated and it is small enough to make checking in a breeze. It is New Zealand’s third-busiest airport, after Auckland and Christchurch, and has flights to most destinations in New Zealand plus international flights to Australia, Fiji and Singapore.
Air Chathams fly to the Chatham Islands; Air New Zealand fly to Auckland, Blenheim, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gisborne, Hamilton, Invercargill, Melbourne, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Queenstown, Rotorua, Sydney, Tauranga and Timaru; Fiji Airways fly to Nadi; Golden Bay Air fly to Karamea and Takaka; Jetstar fly to Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Gold Coast, Nelson and Queenstown; Qantas fly to Melbourne and Sydney; Singapore Airlines fly to Melbourne and Singapore; Sounds Air fly to Blenheim, Nelson, Picton, Taupo and Westport and Virgin Australia fly to Brisbane.
Many backpackers fly to the South Island from Wellington as an alternative to taking the ferry. There are a couple of options including Air Zealand flights to Blenheim or Nelson and Sounds Air flights from Wellington to Blenheim, Nelson or Picton.
For a small airport, Wellington International Airport has a good choice of places to eat and drink while waiting for your flight, although the best spot (assuming you don’t have access to the business class lounges) is the upstairs seating above Mojo Coffee. Not many people spot the stairs to the left of the coffee bar that lead to an oasis of calm in an otherwise busy airport terminal.
Bus route 91 (the Airport Flyer) runs between the airport and Wellington city centre every 20 minutes. This is a semi-express service that is more expensive that other Wellington bus routes with a $9 one-way fare between the airport and the city centre. A cheaper option ($5) involves taking bus 11 (or night bus N2) to the corner of Broadway and Hobart Street, around an eight-minute walk from the airport terminal.