International Terminal
Auckland’s international gateway has run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week since the airport opened in 1966, though departures (4:30am–1:30am) and the transit area (two windows either side of midnight) scale back overnight while arrivals stay open around the clock. Between them, the two terminals handle 28 airlines flying to 42 international and 23 domestic destinations, as of the FY25 count.
Most flights check in at ground-floor zones A to E with staffed counters, kiosks and automatic bag drops. Some instead use zone T, a temporary pavilion beside the Transport Hub built while the check-in hall is upgraded for the 2029 integration with the new domestic jet terminal — bags checked at zone T still need dropping at Bag Drop zone B inside the terminal, about a one-minute walk across a pedestrian crossing.
Passengers connecting between two international flights use a dedicated transfer screening point next to arrival Gate 2, then find the transfer desk on the second level once through.
Auckland has no rail station of its own: the AirportLink bus (every 10 minutes, 4:30am–12:40am) reaches Puhinui Station — a Southern and Eastern Line stop — in 18 to 20 minutes from the international terminal’s Transport Hub.
Reaching the Domestic Terminal means either the free inter-terminal bus (every 15 minutes, 5am–11pm, about ten minutes from Bus Stop B) or the signed 950-metre Green Line walkway (10–15 minutes). Passengers with over 60 minutes before a connecting domestic Air New Zealand flight use the airline’s domestic transfer desk on this terminal’s ground floor; under 60 minutes, or connecting to Jetstar or another regional carrier, go straight to the Domestic Terminal on the bus.
An electric Assistance Buggy loops between the Transport Hub and the terminal’s gates 24 hours a day, roughly every 15–20 minutes; automatic doors and lifts serve every level, and the airport takes part in the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Lanyard scheme. Wheelchair requests go through your airline; Dial-a-ride, a dedicated wheelchair-vehicle shuttle, needs two days’ notice.