<h2 class="blog-hed2 pb-lg-4 pb-3 text-lg-center">History of Wellington International Airport</h2>
<p class="blog-para pb-lg-2">Rongotai Airport opened with a tar runway in November 1929. The airport opened in 1935, but was closed down due to safety reasons on 27 September 1947 (grass surface often became unusable during winter months). During the closure, Paraparaumu Airport, 35 miles north of Wellington, was Wellington's airport, and became the country's busiest airport in 1949. in April 2006, Air New Zealand and Qantas announced that they proposed to enter into a codeshare agreement, arguing that it would be necessary in order to reduce empty seats and financial losses on trans-Tasman routes. The airport counter-argued that the codeshare would stifle competition and passenger growth on Wellington's international flights, pointing to what it saw as a market duopoly dominated by Air New Zealand and Qantas. The codeshare was abandoned by the two airlines after it was rejected in a draft ruling by the Australian Competition &amp; Consumer Commission in November 2006. Fiji Airways began serving Wellington from Nadi on 25 June 2015. Jetstar launched its first international service in December 2014 from Wellington to the Gold Coast. On 21 September 2016 Singapore Airlines began direct flights between Singapore and Wellington via Canberra. It was Wellington's first direct flight to a destination outside Australia and the Pacific Islands. From April 2018, the Singapore Airlines flight began transiting via Melbourne rather than Canberra.</p>
<p><img class="img-fluid p-lg-0 rounded w-100" title="History of Wellington International Airport" src="../../../main/img/airport/wel/16.webp" alt="History of Wellington International Airport"></p>
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<h2 class="blog-hed2 my-4">Transportation from Wellington International Airport</h2>
<p class="blog-para pb-lg-2">Wellington Airport's access is only by road. The airport lies at the southern end of the North Island section of State Highway 1, which connects the airport to Wellington City via the Mount Victoria Tunnel.</p>
<p class="blog-para pb-lg-2">Metlink bus route 2 (between the CBD and Miramar/Seatoun) has a stop within walking distance of the terminal and connects to Metlink train services at Wellington railway station. The Metlink Airport Express bus service, which began on 1 July 2022, links the Wellington CBD directly with Wellington Airport.</p>
<p class="blog-para pb-lg-2">Public transport to the airport is limited to buses as the Airport is quite distant from the Wellington railway station, making it difficult to link Wellington Airport to the CBD via a rail link. Feasibility studies, such as the Greater Wellington Regional Council's Ngauranga to Wellington Airport Corridor Plan, have been carried out to address this gap in the network, with light rail being touted as a solution by public transport advocates.</p>
<p><img class="img-fluid p-lg-0 rounded w-100" title="Transportation from Wellington International Airport" src="../../../main/img/airport/wel/3.webp" alt="Transportation from Wellington International Airport"></p>