Top of climb

I generally tend to fly off-peak but yesterday I had a 7.50 am flight AKL-CHC... wow the AKL Koru Club was dire. Heaving with people; dark, closed in, generally not that appealing a place to be. I had some breakfast, sat around for a bit watching people trip over each other and then decided the terminal had to be nicer. Wandered over to the sparsely populated JQ gates where to my surprise I found quite a few nice comfy armchairs and a nice view over the international apron (to be fair I think it helped that I got there just as a JQ flight was leaving from gate 21 and with gate 22 currently accessed from downstairs it does relieve pressure on the 20/21 area). Still, with the 30 mins free wifi and 3G on my phone I was quite happy. Think this is what I will do in the future after popping into the lounge for breakfast.

OTOH the CHC lounge was an oasis of peace and quiet with gorgeous views over the airfield. Admittedly I was there outside of the peak AKL time but from a design perspective, I have to say that out of the three main centres AKL domestic KC is easily the worst.

cavemanzk

Auckland Domestic is pretty limited by what they can do, as they wouldn't want to build to much floor space onto an terminal that only has 5 years left in it.

CHCflyer

AKL is now in the position CHC regulars had to endure for years. As mentioned, there is no return on investment case for AKL domestic lounge upgrade in the current building.

Perhaps a CHC-type 'birdcage' lounge solution for regional departures might ease the pressure pro-tem.

edmm

Absolutely, a great concept and we don't have the hassle of going through security. But as long as they don't repeat the mistakes of the "birdcage": it needs to be bigger, not a birdcage, have the entrance manned, more comfortable seating and the food and drink offerings could be a bit better.

Top of climb

With the new Auckland Airport masterplan keeping the domestic terminal in the same place, and the refresh and extension of the gates 28/29/30 waiting area, I assume that area is to stay... it would be quite nice to have any new NZ lounge built on top of what will be the new domestic terminal. I saw yesterday that gates 32 and 33 have had their airbridges adjusted so that now all planes from 28 through to 33 are parked parallel to each other.