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Auckland Airport has been recognised as one of New Zealand’s most trusted companies, earning a spot among the top performers in the 2025 Kantar Corporate Reputation Index, coming in at #9, its highest ever ranking.
The annual index measures the public perception of New Zealand’s top 50 corporates across trust, leadership, fairness and responsibility, with Auckland Airport moving forward 42 places over the past year.
Auckland Airport chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui says the result highlighted the teamwork and collaboration that’s taken place across the airport precinct to uplift the customer experience.
“Auckland Airport is a bit like a small city that relies on an ecosystem of partners working together to deliver a safe and enjoyable experience for travellers.
“The team at Auckland Airport will be delighted by this result, and we also share this recognition with the wider airport community, our 26 airline customers and our border agency partners: Aviation Security, Biosecurity New Zealand, Customs, Immigration New Zealand,” she says.
Auckland Airport is currently underway with its most significant infrastructure programme in decades, adding resilience to the country’s gateway airport, improving the customer experience and supporting New Zealand’s growth ambitions.
The Kantar index found AKL scored highly on trust and leadership – the biggest drivers of reputation – along with making strong gains in the responsibility and fairness ratings.
Carrie says the result provided confidence that Auckland Airport was on the right track with its infrastructure programme.
“Infrastructure isn’t easy and there will always be differing opinions, but we’ve worked hard to proactively tell our story. It’s great to know we have the trust and support of the communities we serve as we build for New Zealand’s future growth and prosperity.
“Auckland Airport is going to be wonderfully transformed in the years ahead and I think customers are already starting to feel the difference. We’ve opened a new Transport Hub, created a new entrance to the international terminal, built better roads and added technology innovations, new wayfinding and improved bathrooms.
“We’ve also had a big focus on working with our partners to remove the pain points for customers we know they care about. Through operational improvements, collaboration and technology innovation, we’ve maintained the same high standards of security, but queues are shorter and processing times are much faster, particularly in domestic departures and international arrivals,” she says.
For arriving international passengers at Auckland Airport, it’s now taking around 16 minutes from entering passport control/Customs to exiting into the airport’s public arrivals hall – a 17 per cent improvement on the median processing time in 2019 (March 2019 to March 2025). A significant change came in November 2023, when Biosecurity New Zealand, in collaboration with Auckland Airport, launched a new arrivals risk assessment process.
Wait times have also improved thanks to a reconfigured layout that allows for more biosecurity officers’ desks and larger, more flexible queuing areas.
Queues in the domestic terminal for departing passengers are also much shorter, with median queue times at Aviation Security falling by 40 per cent from 6.03 minutes a year ago to 3.37 minutes (March 2024 to March 2025). New scanning and screening technology introduced by Aviation Security in collaboration with Auckland Airport has played a key role in making it quicker for travellers to go through the check point while prioritising safety.
“We know we’ve still got more work to do to improve the experience for travellers, but the good news is there’s much more to come as we get on with building a new domestic jet terminal to serve New Zealand and the future generations of travel,” says Carrie.
“Auckland Airport is a great partner to work alongside, and I’m pleased to see them leap forward in the corporate reputation index,” says aviation security deputy chief executive Warwick Burr.
“Our teams have worked collaboratively on many initiatives and projects which aim to smoothly process passengers all while making sure safety and security is, and will always be, the top priority. It’s really encouraging to see everyone working as a collective system to improve the overall airport experience in Auckland as well as at airports across Aotearoa.”
Customs group manager border operations Dana McDonald says technological advancements such as the digital New Zealand Traveller Declaration have helped facilitate a smoother arrival for passengers, while Customs continues to remain vigilant against harm or threat passing through our air border.
“Ensuring our busiest international airport remains a safe and secure gateway into our country is an ever-present focus, and a joint effort across the airport network. It’s heartening to see this work recognised and reflected in New Zealanders’ confidence in Auckland Airport,” says Dana.
The Kantar Corporate Reputation Index, developed in partnership with Wright Communications, is widely regarded as New Zealand’s leading measure of corporate reputation. The annual study uses the globally validated Rep Z framework for measuring reputation and combines public perception with deep research.
