Auckland Airport readies to open new transport hub

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Auckland Airport is the country’s busiest airport.
Photo: LDR / Stuff / Stephen Forbes

Auckland Airport is preparing to open the first stage of its new $300 million transport hub at the international terminal early next year.

The old main carpark has been transformed into an undercover pick-up and drop-off area, with dedicated transport lanes for buses and taxis and public pick-up and drop-off zones through the base of a four-storey car parking facility.

“Auckland Airport is our busiest gateway. On any given day there are well over 50,000 travellers coming in and out of the precinct, and 25,000 of those are at the international terminal,” chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui said.

“Auckland Airport is a fast-growing precinct not only for travel but also as a centre for business.”

Public transport will be prioritised in the development with the zones for buses, taxis and rideshares featuring closest to the international terminal.

“Of the more than five lanes that will be running through at ground floor level, the one closest to the terminal will be for public transport,” she said.

“Quarter one will be the opening of the ground floor which includes the pick up and drop off and the P60 parking. That enables us to then close the inner terminal forecourt which allows the building of the integrated terminal, so that’s really important.”

The four-storey car parking building will be opened later next year with a mix of 60-minute zones and longer options.

“The rest of the building and the other three floors and a three-storey office building on one end will open in quarter four next year.”

Carrie Hurihanganui.
Photo: Supplied

Land has also been protected next to the development for a future mass rapid transit station to be added directly alongside when required.

“We know that mass rapid transit is really important, and so immediately behind the transport hub there is a land corridor that we have set aside,” Hurihanganui said.

“That means whatever future form mass rapid transit takes we have already built that into the design and planning, so that we could build that in a future state.”

Rooftop solar power, charging technology and tree planting

At 200 metres long, each floor of the four-storey structure is the size of two rugby fields with a double-height open ground floor.

Its roof will carry a 1.2-megawatt rooftop solar array, which will help to power 33 public electric vehicle charging stations when the carpark opens, along with a new office building taking shape at the end of the development.

“We wanted to make that area between the hotels, the Novotel and the Pullman, and the transport hub and then the terminal, is a much improved streetscape,” Hurihanganui said.

“You’ve got a landscaped pedestrian plaza, you’ve got canopies, and there are 20 pohutukawa trees that were relocated from other parts of the precinct.

“And we’re working through exactly how do we make that an area that travellers, customers and workers want to enjoy as they are walking through, or stop and have a break?

“We are working through how we bring to life New Zealand, and capturing a piece of New Zealand.

“The new planting reduces the amount of concrete and asphalt in the area by 20 percent, assisting with the way we manage stormwater on precinct.”

Set to open in stages over 2024, Hurihanganui said there were currently more than 350 people on site each day getting the pick-up/drop-off zone ready to open, with the upper storeys of the building to open later in 2024.

Integrated domestic and international terminal on the way

Earlier this year, Auckland Airport announced long-term plans to replace the domestic terminal with an integrated domestic and international terminal.

“Like many other airports they have it under one roof and that is in our plan,” she said.

“To build that and have that completed would be a five-year build. We’ve begun the enabling works, but we’ve got a number of years ahead of us before that will be open for the public.

“We know that things have recovered quickly out of Covid, not only for travellers but for business as well. Ensuring that we’re match-fit is something that we are focused on.”