Auckland Airport (IATA: AKL, ICAO: NZAA) is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airport Oaks, a service hub suburb 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of the Auckland city centre. It is both a domestic and international hub for Air New Zealand, and the New Zealand hub of Jetstar.
The airport is one of New Zealand's most important infrastructure assets, providing thousands of jobs for the region. It handled 71 per cent of New Zealand's international air passenger arrivals and departures in 2000. It is one of only two commercial airports in New Zealand (the other being Christchurch) capable of handling Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 aircraft.
The airport has a single 3,535 m (11,598 ft) runway, 05R/23L, which is Cat IIIb capable (at a reduced rate of movements) in the 23L direction. It has a capacity of about 45 flight movements per hour, and is currently the busiest single-runway airport in Oceania. In November 2007 work began on a new northern runway, to be built in several stages and to be used mainly by smaller aircraft, freeing up capacity on the main runway. The project was put on hold for at least 12 months in October 2009, however, and deferred for a further few years in August 2010 following consultation with airlines and a review of capacity management options. The timing of the recommencement of construction of the second runway will be demand driven relative to the capacity of the existing runway. The expected completion date for the second runway is now 2025.
