Auckland in double celebration

Tina Milton

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Auckland airport held a special ceremony today (February 2) to mark the opening of a new level of the international terminal pier and the fortieth anniversary of the airport

A dual celebration to mark the inauguration of Auckland International airport's new international terminal pier level and the facility's fortieth anniversary was held today (February 2) and attended by prime minister Helen Clark.

The airport's pier separation project added another floor to the existing international pier, in line with security requirements. The NZ$47m ($32m) initiative took three years to plan and 17 months to construct. Auckland airport CEO Don Huse said: "The entire project team and wider airport community can be justifiably proud of the development, which has been completed on time, on budget and to specification."

He added: "The following statistic tells a powerful story of the growth of the airport: in 1977, when the international terminal was first opened, the floor areas came to just over 12,000sq m [127,200 sq ft]. Today, thanks to many alterations and additions, the size of the terminal is over eight times as large at nearly 100,000sq m [1.08msq ft]."

Clark said that in its 40-year history, Auckland International airport has grown to be the second-busiest airport in Australasia. "Auckland airport has become one of New Zealand's key economic assets and is set to develop and expand even further over the next 40 years."

DFS Group and The Nuance Group—through its subsidiary Regency Duty Free—operate duty-free retail at Auckland. Both were awarded two-year extensions to their contracts in May 2005 and will operate at the airport until 2009.