Christchurch International Airport Christchurch International Airport Christchurch International Airport is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located 12 kilometres 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 the second busiest airport in New Zealand after Auckland by both annual passengers and aircraft movements. Christchurch along with Auckland are the only two airports in New Zealand to regularly handle Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 aircraft. The airport is curfew free operating 24 hours a
Hamilton Airport (New Zealand) airport became a terminal for Trans Tasman air routes, with charter flights provided on Boeing 727s by Kiwi International Airlines of New Zealand (not to be confused with the United States-based Kiwi International Air Lines) which served Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. New Zealand's Kiwi went bankrupt in 1996, but by that time Freedom Air had begun flying the same routes with Boeing 737 aircraft. They also, briefly, operated flights to Nadi, Fiji, in 2005. Freedom Air ultimately decided to make Hamilton International Airport their company hub until parent company Air New Zealand closed the airline down on 30 March 2008