- Serves
- Wellington city centre and Lower Hutt
- Pick up
- southern end of the airport terminal, level 0 (exit from baggage claim doors on level 0 and turn right)
$10–$12 fares used to make Airport Flyer the default
For years, the Airport Flyer bus was the cheap way from Wellington Airport (WLG) into the CBD or to Wellington Railway Station, running roughly every 10–20 minutes along State Highway 1 and through the inner city. Older trip reports still talk about it as the automatic first choice if you didn’t want to pay for a $30+ taxi or rideshare into Te Aro or Thorndon.
The route linked the terminal forecourt at WLG directly with key stops like Courtenay Place, Willis Street, Lambton Quay, and the railway station, cutting out transfers that you’d face on standard Metlink routes 2, 24, or 91. The full ride from the airport to Wellington Railway Station usually sat around 25–35 minutes outside peak traffic, comparable to driving when SH1 was moving.
Tickets were sold on board for roughly NZ$10–NZ$12 one way, noticeably under the typical $30–$40 you’d see on a metered cab from the airport to Lambton Quay. You could pay the driver in cash in New Zealand dollars, and later versions accepted Snapper cards just like normal Metlink buses, letting locals tap on and off without hunting for change.
The buses themselves ran as dedicated Airport Flyer services with luggage space by the front door, so you could park a 23 kg checked bag or a 7 kg cabin roller without blocking the aisle. Services ran from early morning to late evening, timed around the first and last bank of flights, so a 06:30 departure or a 22:00 arrival at WLG still usually lined up with a bus in either direction.
Service levels and branding have shifted over the years, which is why you now mostly see the Airport Flyer in older forum posts from 2016–2019 rather than in fresh 2024 trip reports. Before you bank on it, pull up the latest Metlink timetable for Wellington Airport connections and check if a dedicated airport-branded service is still running or if you’re now looking at regular routes plus one short transfer.
Tip: If the Airport Flyer (or its successor) isn’t on the current Metlink map, price out a standard bus plus train into Wellington Railway Station against a $30–$40 rideshare from the WLG forecourt and decide based on your arrival time and baggage.