Christchurch Airport wins New Zealand’s Large Airport of the Year award
The airport also received a sustainability award for Kōwhai Park Solar Farm at the 2026 NZ Airports Awards in Wellington.
Christchurch Airport was named New Zealand’s Large Airport of the Year at the 2026 NZ Airports Awards in Wellington on Tuesday, October 20. It also won the large-airport sustainability award for Kōwhai Park Solar Farm, giving the South Island airport recognition both for its overall work and for a specific energy project.
The awards were presented at the NZ Airports Hui gala dinner at Wellington’s St James Theatre. The NZ Airports Association said Christchurch Airport was recognised across five entries in the Airport of the Year category, which also named Hawke’s Bay Airport the medium-airport winner and Chatham Islands Airport the small-airport winner.
Why Kōwhai Park was recognised
Christchurch Airport developed Kōwhai Park Solar Farm with Contact Energy and Lightsource bp. The association named the project the winner of its large-airport sustainability award. Its awards programme also recognises work in safety, infrastructure, community engagement and commercial innovation, placing the solar project alongside a wider range of airport projects honoured at this year’s event.
NZ Airports Association chief executive Graeme Sharman said the winners reflected work by airport teams and their partners at facilities of different sizes. Christchurch Airport chief executive Justin Watson likewise credited staff and partners for the airport’s award. ‘What makes this award particularly special is that it recognises the collective effort of our people and the many partners who help keep our airport running every day,’ he said, according to Chris Lynch Media.
Passenger traffic and airport projects
The airport reported 6.85 million passengers over the past year. Accounts of its work during that period describe an expanded freight apron and upgrades to terminal food, retail and passenger facilities. The NZ Herald also reported that the airport expanded its domestic and international connections. Those developments give context to the overall airport award; the passenger figure is the airport’s reported total.
Further international services are scheduled for the coming weeks. The NZ Herald reported that Air New Zealand plans to begin a Christchurch–Singapore service on October 28, followed by Tokyo Narita on November 28 and Perth on November 30. The planned routes would extend the airport’s international network beyond the activity recognised in the awards announced this week.
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Sources and context
- Christchurch Airport named New Zealand's large airport of the yearNZ Herald (NZME)
- Christchurch Airport named New Zealand’s Large Airport of the Year - Chris Lynch MediaChris Lynch Media
- New Zealand’s Airports Celebrate Excellence At 20th Annual Awards | Scoop NewsScoop News; release by NZ Airports Association
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.