Travellers face hour-long delays at Auckland International Airport, rush to gates to make flights

Travellers at Auckland’s International Airport have faced hour-long waits this afternoon, with some making desperate dashes to departure gates fearing they will miss their flights.

One passenger told the Herald water was being handed out to those experiencing the long delays through the terminal departure area and staff also using motorised trolleys to rush people to waiting planes.

“No one is complaining much to be honest, I think we’re all just hoping our planes wait for us. People look really perplexed is how I would describe it,” they said.

Families with children were being fast tracked as the queues flowed.

An employee told the passenger it was the worst queues they had seen.

“He said it was because of the rain, which had affected the arrivals.”

The passenger said their flight had been held for passengers who were late due to the long delays.

“My face is red and sweaty after a 23-minute dash from the customs hall to gate 18, the furthest gate, but I made it!

“Those little motorised trolleys were running hot, rushing people to the far away gates,” they said.

An Auckland International Airport spokeswoman confirmed the delays.

“During the afternoon travel peak, there was a short period of congestion within Auckland Airport’s international terminal departures area. As is normal when it is busy, airport staff were assisting passengers and liaising with other airport teams to keep passenger flows moving smoothly. Congestion has now cleared.”

In December, passengers endured hour-plus delays after “mechanical issues” to security screening lanes.

The Government-run Aviation Security Service (AvSec) confirmed the delays were caused by mechanical issues with its screening machines.

Group manager of operations Karen Urwin said “two screening lanes were subsequently closed for a period of time” resulting in major queues.

Passenger Dr Michelle Dickinson, aka Nanogirl, told the Herald she waited in line for over an hour on December 4 and hundreds of people faced delays.

“Hundreds were in the queue. Lots of them [were] visibly and verbally stressed as they could hear their flights were boarding and they were still stuck in the line,” she said.

Dickinson took to X, formerly Twitter, to advise of the lengthy wait and voice her concern for elderly passengers who were stuck in the queue.

“I didn’t see any staff helping those who were older, although I did see some staff handing out bottle water to people at the back of the line,” she said.

Dickinson said passengers only received one announcement as they endured the long wait, saying it was due to “high passenger numbers”.

AvSec is a Government border agency run independently from Auckland Airport itself – which Auckland Airport has no authority over.