Wellington International Airport is in Rongotai, about 5 km (3 mi) from the central city. It sits on an isthmus between the Miramar peninsula and Mount Victoria. The southerly approach is over Cook Strait, while the northerly approach is over the harbor.
Wellington airport is a major transit point for domestic travellers. There are frequent flights to Auckland, Christchurch, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Hamilton, Nelson, Blenheim and many other destinations. International flights from Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane) arrive about twice daily: the evening flights arrive after midnight when most facilities are closed. There are also seasonal flights between Wellington and Fiji.
Landing at Wellington Airport in a strong cross-wind can be an adventure, and most pilots adopt a powered approach for approach, followed by a full reverse thrust and hard braked landing due to the shortness of the runway. This tends to create a roller-coaster ride, so make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened, as is required anyway.
There is a regular airport bus known as the Flyer that departs from the south end of the domestic terminal until 9PM. Shuttle van services, taxis and covered carparking are directly outside the terminal.
When you get to the airport, call the Metlink hotline at 0800 801700. They answer very quickly and a friendly person will tell you what bus to take and even what special pass to buy (for example, if after the "Flyer" you are taking a train) if you say where you are going.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Wellington
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Wellington - updated May 2024
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Wellington Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
