Technical issue affecting passport processing at two major airports resolved
Monday 12 October 2026 · 2 outlets · 2 reports · updated In this story NZ Customs Service
New Zealand Customs reported an intermittent technical problem affecting passenger processing at Auckland and Christchurch international airports on Monday morning. The issue caused longer wait times for travellers, prompting the deployment of extra officers. Both airports have since resolved the problem.
Key facts
4 facts
- Technical issue affected eGates at Auckland and Christchurch airports
- The problem occurred on Monday morning
- Additional Customs officers were deployed to assist passengers
- The issue has been resolved and normal processing restored
The full story
1 min read · 2 outlets
A technical issue affecting passenger processing at Auckland and Christchurch international airports has been resolved. The intermittent problem occurred on Monday morning and caused longer waiting times for some travellers.
Assistant Comptroller Air Operations Craig Chitty confirmed that normal passenger processing has been restored. He stated, “Customs can confirm normal passenger processing has been restored following the resolution of a technical issue affecting eGates and Auckland and Christchurch International Airports this morning”.
During the disruption, Auckland Airport reported that eGates for arriving and departing travellers were affected. Customs officers manually processed passengers whenever the eGates were unavailable.
Additional Customs officers were deployed to assist with arriving and departing passengers while teams identified the cause. Travellers were advised to allow extra time and follow instructions from staff. Christchurch Airport reported that by midday it had returned to business as usual and no flights were affected.
How it developed
- Mon 12 Oct, 12:33pmThe second report confirms the technical problem has been fixed and provides a quote from Craig Chitty.
Where reports differ
- The first report states Christchurch Airport resolved the issue by midday, while the second report states the issue at both airports has been resolved.
Compiled from reports by The Press and Stuff.