Air New Zealand Flight 611 was the first flight in 117 days to deliver passengers from the city of sails as people enthusiastically reunited with families and friends at Queenstown Airport yesterday.
It arrived about 8.45am with 168 passengers on board.
Airport staff expected to process hundreds of passengers from Auckland throughout the day, after travel restrictions were lifted at 11.59pm on Tuesday.
Most of those people — 1200 — were expected to arrive on Air New Zealand’s seven scheduled flights. Jetstar also had three scheduled flights, having about 300 total passengers booked.
Passenger Kelly Rosie, of Auckland, said the flight was "bright and early" and "lovely".
Ava Maddison (16), of Epsom Girls Grammar School, was among a group of promising secondary school road cyclists arriving in the resort to attend a training camp with Black Magic Cycle Team coach Patrick Harvey, of Wanaka.
Air New Zealand general manager, customer, Leeanne Langridge was also on board and said the "vibe" was amazing.
"People were excited. I was expecting a little bit of apprehension but people were just excited and just wanting to get on with Christmas and see their friends and whanau."
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult and Queenstown Airport chief executive Glen Sowry waited inside the terminal to greet the visitors.
Mr Sowry was excited about what the reconnection between Aucklanders and Queenstown would mean for the economy but said he was also swept up by the romance of it all.
About 160,000 passengers were expected to pass through Queenstown Airport between yesterday and January 14, including residents leaving to go on holiday in other places.
Mr Sowry said the airport had implemented multiple layers of protection against Covid-19.
"The Queenstown Lakes district has done a phenomenal job with vaccination rates, which is key to keeping people safe as Kiwis travel over summer," he said.
Christchurch Airport is also planning for a busy few weeks.
Chief aeronautical and commercial officer Justin Watson said the busiest domestic travel day would be December 23, when 212 flights were scheduled.
"On the 23rd, we’ll have about 19,000 passengers through the domestic terminal," Mr Watson said.
Both airports have suggested that because it would be so busy over the summer, customers should arrive at least 60 minutes before departure to go through various screening and check-in processes.
"Understandably, there’s quite a lot of trepidation around the place ... it [Covid 19] is going to happen sooner or later and, here we are, facing that day."
Overall, Queenstown hospitality owners were feeling positive about welcoming Aucklanders back into their venues, but there remained qualms about what the border opening could mean for viral spread in the town.
James Ace, director of Future Hospitality Group in Queenstown, said there was no denying from a business perspective, yesterday’s influx of visitors was really exciting.
"It feels inevitable that the virus will make its way into Queenstown, but we’re holding out hope that it can stay away for as long as possible so we can get some good times under our belt before that happens," he said.
Jeanne Crawford, owner of the Fork & Tap Alehouse in Arrowtown, said she was looking forward to the injection of energy the border opening would bring into the town.
"With the traffic light system, everyone’s got it in place, and we know that everyone who’s flying down will have their Covid-19 vaccine pass or they’re clear, so that’s comforting."
— Additional reporting Courtney White and Tracey Roxburgh
