Covid-19: Auckland opens and residents spread wings after four-month lockdown

After months of lockdown and travel exemptions, people are free to go in and out of Auckland by road and air.

Auckland Airport is open and passengers are flying out of – and into – the city for any reason they like, four months after Auckland was thrust into lockdown following the Delta community outbreak of Covid-19 on August 17.

Now, after the lonely, frustrating graft of isolating at home, and an unprecedented mass vaccination roll-out, families, friends, and compatriots separated for public health can reunite.

Those driving out of the city will still encounter checkpoints, and have to provide proof of vaccination status or a negative Covid-19 test within the previous 72 hours, but travel is otherwise unrestricted.

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Those catching flights will also need a vaccine pass or proof of a negative test 72 hours before lift-off.

David Wikaira, who was heading to Palmerston North on Wednesday morning, said he “cannot wait” to leave Auckland.

The excitement was more to leave Auckland, than head to Palmy, he said.

Wikaira said he was at the airport when the lockdown was implemented back in August, and now was almost the first one to be leaving at the end.

He said he found lockdown tiresome like most Aucklanders, but it was nice to spend some time “off the hamster wheel”, he said.

Jazz Fox is heading to Queenstown to celebrate her 30th birthday, which is on Wednesday.

“I thought I was going to have a lockdown birthday, so this is pretty random,” she said. “I can’t wait to leave, it’s been too long in lockdown.”

The boundary around Tāmaki Makaurau lifted at 11.59pm on Tuesday, December 14, letting people travel in and out of Auckland for any reason.

Despite the easing of border restrictions, there was no immediate mass exodus from the city, however, with sporadic levels of traffic seen heading south overnight.

Stuff visual journalist Ricky Wilson was on the Waikato side of the border when it opened to all traffic overnight.

He said most of the traffic was heading north, into Auckland.

A police spokesperson on Wednesday morning said the lifting of the checkpoints had gone smoothly, with minimal delays to traffic.

“There was a small queue of cars waiting from between 11pm and midnight, Police estimate less than 100 cars at each of the main borders (Mercer and Te Hana),” the spokesperson said.

“This morning traffic appears to be flowing freely however, we expect it to start building as normal for peak hour traffic.”

The spokesperson said checkpoints now in place in Northland had seen minimal traffic passing through and had no issues overnight.

“Again, traffic is starting to build due to the time of morning so Police will be keeping a close eye on this to ensure there are no significant delays,” the spokesperson said.

Before the border around Auckland lifted, it is understood police had more than 60 vehicles attempt to cross without the required documentation.

Auckland Airport expects around 20,000 travellers to transit through the terminal on Wednesday, compared to around 600 the day before.

Over the next month, the airport expects that figure to average out at 25,000.

That’s a 4000 per cent increase on the last month’s average.

Air NZ is expecting to fly 12,000 people in and out of Auckland on 170 flights today: 1800 to Wellington, 1700 to Christchurch, and 1200 to Queenstown.

Air NZ expects 720,000 to fly around Aotearoa between today and the end of January.

Dana Lee, Air New Zealand in-flight service manager short-haul, said it was great to be able to get back to the usual roster.

“It doesn’t look too different to how it was in our alert level 2 flying. The biggest change is the vaccination/test requirement,” she said.

“Best piece of advice would be to make sure you have your My Vaccine Pass uploaded to your Airpoints profile, or ready to scan at check-in. It’s super easy, took me 20 seconds to do.”

As with malls, anyone can enter the terminal and must wear a mask. Vaccine passes will be checked by airlines at the gate.

MetService is forecasting some low cloud across the country which could prove troublesome for flights, and rain on Auckland’s parade.

Anna Cassels-Brown, the airport’s general manager of operations, suggested travellers should arrive an hour early for their flights, drop their family members outside rather than entering the terminals, and prepare to be patient while standing in line.

“I know our people are excited to be welcoming more travellers back into the terminal, but we ask that everyone prepares for a slightly different travel experience.

“Even if you’ve been a frequent flyer in the past, please make sure you get familiar with the new processes before you arrive at the airport,” said Cassels-Brown.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister reminded Aucklanders to ensure they have their vaccine pass when they travel and prepare themselves to be checked as they cross the border.