Christchurch Airport
Christchurch Airport Taunga Rererangi o Ōtautahi | |||||||||||||||||||
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Aerial view of Christchurch Airport (2020) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Summary | |||||||||||||||||||
| Airport type | Public / military | ||||||||||||||||||
| Owner |
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| Operator | Christchurch International Airport Limited (CIAL) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Serves | Christchurch | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Harewood, Christchurch, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 18 May 1940 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hub for | Air New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||
| Time zone | NZST (UTC+12:00) | ||||||||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | NZDT (UTC+13:00) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 37 m / 123 ft | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 43°29′22″S 172°31′56″E / 43.48944°S 172.53222°E | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||
| Map | |||||||||||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Helipads | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Statistics (year to 30 June 2023) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Christchurch Airport (IATA: CHC, ICAO: NZCH) 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, after Auckland and before Wellington by annual passengers, and the second busiest, after Auckland, by aircraft movements.
Christchurch and Auckland are the only airports in New Zealand that regularly handle the Airbus A380 aircraft. The airport is curfew free, operating 24 hours a day.
The prevailing wind in Christchurch is from the north-east and to a lesser extent from the south-west, but the city is also affected by Canterbury's nor'wester foehn wind. As a result, the airport has two perpendicular runways: a 3,288-metre (10,787 ft) primary runway (02/20) oriented with the north-easterly and south-westerly prevailing winds, and a 1,741-metre (5,712 ft) secondary runway (11/29) oriented for use during nor'westers. The airport also has a third grass runway, parallel to the primary runway, for use by general aviation. To serve an increasing number of passengers, the airport has completed construction of a major terminal upgrade. The new construction's primary wing opened in 2011 and the upgrade was completed in 2013.