Saturday, April 2, 2016

Soft Landings At Christchurch Airport

Late-night arrivals at Christchurch International Airport won't have to sleep on seats in the foyer for much longer.
By the end of next year, a 4.5-star Novotel will be open, right outside the terminal door. It'll be between the terminal building and the existing long-term car park.
The 200-room hotel for short-stay accommodation will cost $80 million.
Christchurch International Airport CEO Malcolm Johns says many flights from Asia and Australia arrive in the evening, and travellers want to be able to stay within walking distance of the terminal.
He's regularly fielding calls from airlines asking what hotels Chch was developing to fill the shortage after the earthquakes. He says they'd been seeking up to 400 additional rooms near the terminal, but the airport company decided 200 were enough for now.
Novotel will lease the hotel for 10 years. It has more than 450 hotels in 61 countries, and this would be its 9th in New Zealand. The chain is part of the AccorHotels group which has 3700 sites in more than 90 countries.
Christchurch Airport has also spent $10m on a 280-bed backpackers beside its Spitfire Square retail precinct.
Novotel Auckland Airport, 2011
The airport is on target to reach 6.3 million passengers for the full year - up from 5.9 million the year before - and tourism numbers are expected to keep rising next summer.
PS: Novotel opened at Auckland Airport in 2011...the design looks almost exactly the same!

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