By Air in Queenstown and the Southern Alps

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By Air

Queenstown Airport (ZQN) is 9 km (5 1/2 mi) east of town. Mount Cook Airport is a short distance from the village and is used just for scenic and charter flights. Wanaka Airport (WKA) is 10 km (6 mi) east of the town.

Queenstown is linked directly with Auckland by Air New Zealand and to Christchurch by Air New Zealand Link. Air New Zealand Link also offers a daily service between Christchurch and Wanaka. Qantas and Origin Pacific also offer code-share flights (where two or three airlines share the same plane-very common here, even on international flights in this part of the world). On a clear day, the views are spectacular; in winter, snow sometimes closes the airport.

Super Shuttle Queenstown meets all incoming flights and charges $12 for one person (and increasingly less, depending on the number of people in a group) to hotels in Queenstown. Taxis wait outside the arrivals area; the fare into town is about $20. A Shopper bus ($5) departs to and from Queenstown Airport every hour. You can be picked up by the Shopper bus from some Queenstown hotels.

Airports

Mount Cook Airport (03/430-8034 or 0800/800-702). Queenstown Airport (Frankton Rd., Queenstown. 03/442-2670. www.queenstownairport.co.nz).

Carriers

Air New Zealand (03/441-1900 or 0800/737-000. www.airnewzealand.co.nz). Qantas (0800/808-767. www.qantas.com.au).

Airport Transfers

Alpine Taxi (03/442-6666 or 0800/442-6666). Queenstown Taxis (03/442-7788 or 0800/788-294). Super Shuttle Queenstown (03/442-3639 or 0800/748-8853).