Ak Airport welcomes trans-Tasman border change

Auckland Airport welcomes the changes announced today by the New Zealand and Australian Prime Ministers that will make travelling between the two countries easier.

Auckland Airport's chief executive, Simon Moutter, said, "We believe these changes are a brilliant initiative that will help drive the tourism demand that is so crucial for the New Zealand economy."

Moutter said, "Solid growth in Australian visitor arrivals has been one of the few recent bright spots for the New Zealand tourism industry, and we believe there is potential to grow this market even more. Moves to streamline border processing should further stimulate trans-Tasman travel demand".

The package of measures announced today includes changes to screening procedures and a wider introduction of the SmartGate technology, which was trialled at Auckland Airport and a limited number of Australian airports late in 2008. SmartGate is now expected to be available in Auckland arrivals from as early as December this year, and in departures from late 2010. SmartGate will provide a 'near domestic' travel experience with less queues and simplified processing, and with border controls partially automated.

Auckland Airport has been working for some time with its key airport partners on a range of border processing improvements, including a successful pilot process efficiency study, using lean six sigma methodology, to better understand passenger arrival movements, identify bottlenecks and make the end-to-end arrival processing experience more efficient. The pilot study was a great success and is now being extended to other aspects of passenger processing.

Moutter added, "While making trans-Tasman travel significantly easier will bring enormous tourism benefits to New Zealand, it's also good to see that this positive stimulus has not come at the expense of the critical border functions provided by MAF Bio-security, NZ Customs, and Aviation Security, all supported by the infrastructure of Auckland Airport. We are looking forward to working with our airline and border agency partners on these and other initiatives to continue to make international travel a more efficient, seamless and enjoyable experience for everyone".