There were tears of joy, long embraces and sighs of relief as thousands of New Zealanders boarded flights or hit the road on Wednesday, in what was the first reunion with friends and family in four months.
The city tried to contain an outbreak of Covid-19 and closed the wider region. The government relaxed the border from 15 December to allow people to travel due to the double-vaccine rate.
The road checkpoint at the edge of the city was removed at midnight and the queue of cars, some with boats and trailers attached, were given the green light to move. On Wednesday morning, airport terminals around the country buzzed with people eager to leave and return to their loved ones.
A lot of people were going to fly out of New Zealand. It will mark the beginning of a 4000% increase in movement through the airport over the summer.
Terry Kraettly and her daughter are at the Domestic Airport.
MC Slave, the Fat Freddy's Drop MC, told Stuff it was like flying for the first time again when he was at the airport.
Simon Giles waited for his wife to come back to him in Queenstown with a bunch of red roses that he had grown himself.
The pair hugged as they were together again on Wednesday. Thwaites said that he had done a great job with the roses.
A grandmother and granddaughter were able to meet up after months apart due to the lockdown.
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Jake Kenny is from New Zealand.
Jim Boult was at the airport to greet the first group of arrivals. It is a big deal to see people from the city back. It was nice to see people come back to their families.
Boult watched as families and couples greeted each other. It was a special day and anyone coming into the terminal realized it.
The mayor hoped that the day would mark the beginning of a massive increase in economic activity.
While the restrictions were in place, domestic travel in and out of the airport dwindled from 23,000 passengers a day to 600.
If you want to leave the city, you must have a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours. Travelers will need vaccine passports for boarding flights and ferries. Anyone caught not adhering to the rules could be fined up to 1000 dollars. The core summer period will be in place until 17 January.
Today is the day the border is opened. Scan in, show your pass, and mask up. If you are worried about any symptoms, please get tested.
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Matai O'Connor is on December 14, 2021.
Therapy dogs will be on hand to greet the travellers. The airport was expected to be busy during the period just before Christmas.
The domestic terminal will have about 19,000 passengers on the 23rd. The terminal will be buzzing because the number doesn't include travellers' friends and family.
Some people will be a little anxious when travelling to be with a loved one. New Zealand will have its first airpawt ambassadors on duty. The P.A.W.S programme is working with St John to have therapy dogs in the terminal.
The leader of the Te Tai Tokerau border control said that there was a slow but steady arrival of Aucklanders.
The community has the lowest vaccination rate in the country, so police set up Iwi checkpoint to help protect it.
"As far as I know, maybe less than half a dozen have been turned around here and we've had thousands through by now."
The checkpoints are not about keeping people out, but keeping people safe. It is about making sure those that come are not going to have a negative impact on our population.
The signs prepare travellers as police check them.
Since the start of the Pandemic, New Zealand has reported over 12,000 Covid cases, with 9,890 of them from the current outbreak. There have been 47 deaths of people with Covid-19. The international borders will probably be reopened in 2022.
