Christchurch International Airport

About Christchurch International Airport

Christchurch Airport is an international airport serving Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located 12 km (7.5 mi) to the northwest of the city centre, in the suburb of Harewood. Christchurch (Harewood) Airport officially opened on 18 May 1940 and became New Zealand's first international airport on 16 December 1950. It is New Zealand's second busiest airport by annual passengers and aircraft movements, after Auckland and only one of two airports in New Zealand that regularly handle the Airbus A380 aircraft. The airport is curfew free, operating 24 hours a day. Source: "Christchurch Airport" by Wikipedia contributors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christchurch_Airport), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Edit history on the linked Wikipedia page.

Overview

Christchurch International Airport is the main commercial airport for Christchurch, New Zealand. Its IATA code is CHC and its ICAO code is NZCH. The clocks here run on Pacific/Auckland, the runway sits about 123 ft above sea level, and the airport is a mid-sized regional airport, with around 38 scheduled departure pairs in the public OpenFlights schedule plus onward connections through partner airlines.

Terminals and concourses

Most travellers will pass through one of a handful of terminal areas at Christchurch International Airport. Bigger fields tend to split domestic and international traffic into separate halls, each with its own arrivals area, immigration counters, customs and a landside check-in concourse. Signage is bilingual wherever the local language and English share the airport, and walking between terminals at Christchurch's main gateway is usually possible on foot. Where the aprons stretch more than a kilometre, a shuttle bus or an automated people mover takes over.

Lounges and amenities

Lounge options at Christchurch International Airport match what you would expect from a mid-sized regional airport. There is normally at least one airline-run lounge for premium-cabin passengers and elite-status flyers, plus an independent or contract lounge that sells day passes and accepts programmes like Priority Pass, DragonPass, Plaza Premium and LoungeKey. Inside, you can usually count on hot food, espresso, charging at every seat, decent Wi-Fi, and showers at the busier terminals. Quiet zones, prayer rooms and family areas tend to sit landside near check-in.

Getting to and from the airport

Getting between Christchurch International Airport and central Christchurch is straightforward. Licensed taxis queue at marked curbs outside arrivals, with metered or zoned fares posted at the rank. Ride-hail apps have a designated pickup point, often one level up at departures or in a nearby lot. Public transport varies by city. A primary gateway like this one almost always offers an express train, a metro line or a dedicated airport bus running from before the first wave of departures until after the last arrival. Long-stay parking, rental car desks and hotel shuttle stops are clustered together on the landside.

Tips for travellers

A few things worth knowing for Christchurch International Airport. Aim to arrive at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international one, especially during peak banks. Local time is Pacific/Auckland, so plan your transfers around the time difference if you are coming in from another zone. Save a screenshot of your boarding pass before you leave the house, since terminal Wi-Fi is hit and miss when it gets busy. If you are connecting on a partner airline, check whether your bag is tagged through to the final destination, because Christchurch International Airport handles a mix of in-terminal and inter-terminal connections. With 34 direct destinations on the public schedule, this is a useful node for both point-to-point trips and onward connections across New Zealand and the wider region.

More guides for CHC

Four extra pages dig deeper into lounges, layovers, getting to and from the airport, and the terminal layout itself. Open whichever one matches the problem in front of you.

Direct destinations from CHC

These are the cities you can fly to nonstop from Christchurch International Airport, based on the published schedule. Tap any one to open its own terminal, lounge and route guide.