Christchurch International Airport

Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is the second-busiest airport in New Zealand and the primary aviation gateway to the South Island. Located in Harewood 12 km (7 mi) north-west of central Christchurch at 123 ft (37 m) elevation on the Canterbury Plains, the airport operates three runways: the main 02/20 at 10,787 ft (3,288 m) of asphalt for all commercial traffic, a 5,587-ft (1,703-m) bitumen crosswind strip 11/29, and a 1,690-ft (515-m) grass strip 01/19 for light aircraft. The long main runway is sized to handle fully loaded Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 operations, including twice-daily Christchurch-Singapore services on Singapore Airlines. CHC serves 44 routes to 29 destinations on 14 airlines (2026), with home operators Air New Zealand and Jetstar anchoring domestic flights to Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown and regional points plus Tasman Sea services. International carriers include Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Emirates (via Sydney), Cathay Pacific (seasonal), Fiji Airways, Jetstar Asia, China Southern and China Airlines. Crucially, CHC is a critical gateway for Antarctic operations: the United States Antarctic Program, New Zealand's Scott Base, the Italian PNRA and South Korea's KOPRI all base their McMurdo and Terra Nova Bay flight operations at CHC, with RNZAF Boeing 757 and USAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster III flights departing throughout the austral summer. The current integrated terminal opened in phases between 2009 and 2013 after the previous facility was damaged in the 2011 Canterbury earthquake. Owned by Christchurch City Council (75%) and the New Zealand Government (25%), CHC is one of the few major airports worldwide that has commissioned a second greenfield airport - Tarras in Central Otago - as a long-term capacity hedge for the upper South Island. Pre-pandemic traffic approached 7 million passengers per year, making CHC the fifth-busiest airport in Australasia. Cargo operations are substantial, with regular freighter departures for chilled lamb, salmon, dairy, cherries and cut flowers bound for Asian and North American markets.