As Kiwis start thinking about where they might travel within New Zealand under Alert Level 2, Auckland Airport has prepared its domestic terminal to welcome more passengers.

Over the past few days, Auckland Airport has been dressing its domestic terminal in more than 1000 yellow vinyl signs in anticipation of extra travellers moving through the precinct, displaying distancing requirements everywhere from bathrooms and baggage pick-up to security queuing areas.

And the airport’s main message to travellers? Stay safe and leave space.

“The wellbeing of everyone working and travelling through our terminals is our top priority and we want everyone here to be as safe as possible. We are working hard to remind passengers about the importance of physical distancing to help everyone travel responsibly and with confidence,” said Anna Cassels-Brown, General Manager Operations at Auckland Airport.

“We already have a range of health and safety measures in place for the essential travel that was allowed under Alert Levels 3 and 4. These have now been expanded to take into account an expected increase in traveller numbers as travel restrictions reduce.

“While we’re really excited to be welcoming more travellers back into the domestic terminal we want to remind people that while we’re at Alert Level 2 it will be a very different experience from before the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Access to the domestic terminal will remain restricted to passengers travelling that day, with activities managed through the terminal to ensure physical distancing.

“Travellers can expect to see a lot of reminders to allow some extra space between themselves and other people not travelling with them. This will be everything from digital signage, to floor markings to decals on seats,” she said.

“We’ve all become used to how different it is to go to the supermarket and are mindful of how much space to allow between ourselves and fellow shoppers, and we’re all careful about good hygiene. It’s going to be the same when you come to the airport.”

Auckland Airport’s tips for travellers include:

• Give yourself more time. Things might take a bit longer – from check-in to boarding – so please give yourself plenty of time to get to and through the airport
• Only passengers can come into the terminal. Be prepared to have your travel itinerary checked at the door. If you need assistance to catch your flight you can bring one support person in with you.
• There might be extra wait time inside the terminal. We’re going to need to carefully manage your journey through the terminal to ensure everyone can keep a safe space between them and their fellow passengers. This might mean some additional time spent waiting to be processed. Please be patient
• Stay safe and leave space. We’ve got lots of reminders in place to maintain physical distancing, but we need everyone to play their part to reducing the risk of COVID-19.
• Please use the hand sanitiser stations around the terminal, the disposable wipe stations you will find at trolley stands, and bins for the disposal of face masks are available throughout the terminal.

Except for Park & Ride and Valet Parking, most domestic terminal car parks are open to book online or for drive-up customers. Contactless PayWave is an option on entry and exit for those preferring not to use the car park payment machines. The Auckland Transport 380 bus is running, as are taxis and rideshare operators.

Many of the food and beverage operators on the airport precinct have reopened, but currently only Hudson’s in the airside departure lounges is open in the domestic terminal.

“New Zealanders have come together to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Now that we’re all about to be able to travel around New Zealand we need everyone to work collectively to make sure we travel safely.”

Level 3 travel restrictions remain in place until 11.59pm on Wednesday 13 May. For more advice on travel, please go to the Government’s COVID-19 website.

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