New Zealand Airports You Can Fly To
Learn which airports you can fly to if you live outside of New Zealand and want to book a flight to either the North Island or South Island of New Zealand.
New Zealand is a relatively small country and while there are many airports around the country, you cannot fly to all of them if you are flying to New Zealand from outside of New Zealand.
New Zealand has 2 major international airports:
- Auckland international airport on the North Island of New Zealand.
- Christchurch international airport on the South Island of New Zealand.
From the two aforementioned New Zealand airports, Auckland international airport is considered to be the main port of entry into New Zealand.
So whatever flight you are catching from your country to New Zealand, it is highly likely it will be landing in Auckland, but not always, because major airlines also tend to fly to Christchurch.
Planning On Flying To New Zealand
If you want to start your holiday on the North Island, look for a flight to Auckland. And if you will be holidaying on the South Island, book a flight to Christchurch.
It is easier to fly directly to the island of your choice, since you won’t have to look for ways then to get from one island to the other.
In any case, if you wind up flying to one New Zealand island, you can always book a domestic flight with for example Air New Zealand and fly to the other New Zealand island.
Air New Zealand flies to many destinations within New Zealand, which includes larger and smaller airports, and as an international traveler, you are allowed to book a domestic flight via the Air New Zealand website. All you need is a credit card.
Another option to travel between the North and the South Island of New Zealand would be to catch a ferry either in Wellington or Picton.
Planning On Flying Within New Zealand
New Zealand has many smaller airports you can fly to. But there are also other not so large airports that international airlines fly to.
Those airports include:
The four airports mentioned above tend to be reachable from outside of New Zealand if you fly to them directly from Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane) or other neighbors in the Pacific.
Fly-Drive New Zealand
After your flight has landed in New Zealand, you may choose to rent a car and drive yourself around New Zealand.
The major car rental companies (Hertz, Budget, Avis, Thrifty, etc.) are well-represented, so you can easily rent a car in New Zealand.
However, you should always check car rental websites to see whether they offer car rental at smaller airports in New Zealand, because not all do.
And in some cases, car rental companies may offer a special service of bringing a car to you, if they do not have an office at the location where you want to rent a car. Just send them an email and ask if you find yourself in that situation.
Final Words On New Zealand Airports You Can Fly To
If you are thinking of visiting New Zealand and want to fly to a location that is as close as possible to the location where you will be vacationing but which is not in one of the larger cities of New Zealand, research your options of flying to minor airports in New Zealand.
Chances are great that you will be able to first fly to a major airport from outside of New Zealand, and then within New Zealand, catch a flight to a minor airport.
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