Wellington Airport international departure tax axed from April
By John Walton, March 2 2012
Wellington Airport's international departure tax is being removed from 1 April, removing an irritating hurdle to leaving New Zealand's capital city.
Removing the tax means you'll no longer need to faff around at the currency exchange window to get a little sticker on your boarding pass before you're allowed past security into the international part of Wellington's terminal.
It's not so much the NZ$25 (A$19.50) tax -- "International Departure Fee" officially -- that annoys travellers as the irritating process to get the sticker, since the tax isn't included in the price of airline tickets.
It's an especially galling process in peak afternoon international departure times, when the currency exchange window queue was often two 737-loads of passengers deep.
Wellington Airport's CEO Steve Sanderson agrees: "Improving the traveller experience is important to us and removing the departure fee will make it easier for all passengers travelling internationally. Taking away the need to join the queue and pay the fee is a big step forward."
Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 May 2011
Total posts 362
So, assuming it will be included in the price of the ticket?
03 Jan 2011
Total posts 665
Safe assumption, as ever. Although WLG is making noises about the overall cost going down:
“The new price structure means international charges will reduce by $1.72 per passenger each year in real terms. Domestic charges will increase on average by 74c each year. Overall, the average fees per passenger will increase by 41c or 3.6% per year in real terms,” said Chief Commercial Officer, Matt Clarke.
Qantas
10 Sep 2011
Total posts 162
Let's hope Queenstown does it soon too.
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 4
Hurray! So all major airports in New Zealand scraped this fee, except Queenstown. Let's hope ZQN also will get rid of this departure fee in near future.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Wellington Airport international departure tax axed from April