Wellington Airport's busiest days ever with British and Irish Lions tour

It’s going to be the busiest weekend for Wellington Airport ever on 1 & 2 July, when the British and Irish Lions come up against the All Blacks. 22,000 passengers are expected to travel through Wellington airport on Sat 1 July and 23,000 on Sunday 2 July. There are seven Air New Zealand chartered flights arriving with fans for the second test match including two wide-body Boeing 777s.

Wellington Airport has been preparing for the major event over the last few months working closely with the entire airport community to ensure the travel process is as smooth as possible.

22 buses will bring the passengers to the airport from the stadium to catch eight chartered flights that are scheduled to depart on the same night of the game. A further, five chartered flights depart the following day on 2 July. Qantas will be operating three of those domestic chartered flights.

All aircraft stands will be taken up on Saturday night after the match and even the international gates will be used for domestic departures. A few of the buses from the Stadium will also be taking regional passengers directly onto the airport apron and to their awaiting aircraft. Additionally 16 transit buses have been organised to take arriving Lions fans on chartered flights into the CBD for the game.

Wellington Airport has 15 additional staff along with contractors on hand to ensure passengers are well looked after.

If you’re travelling out of Wellington this weekend, it will be a little busier than normal at the airport so try and arrive a little earlier than normal, check-in online if possible and pre-book parking online. You should also check the website for flight times and check NZTA website for any traffic updates.

12 years ago when the Lions came to Wellington, one of the airport staff painted the score 48-18 on a concrete wall on the western side of the runway for the departing Lion’s. We’ve got the paint tin ready this time as well.