KEY POINTS:
A $180 million upgrade of Auckland International Airport will be fast-tracked to ensure tens of thousands of Rugby World Cup visitors enjoy a smooth welcome to New Zealand.
The airport company said yesterday a major overhaul of the international terminal would be completed by mid-2011 - 18 months earlier than originally planned.
It will mean visitors and those returning to New Zealand will arrive on a new floor, built above the existing arrivals lounge.
Don Huse, Auckland Airport chief executive, said the expected 70,000 fans coming here would arrive to stunning views across the Manukau Harbour.
The area would also be designed to showcase all that is good about New Zealand, from iconic images, to homegrown art and design, to native flora, fauna and landscapes.
But the plan was attacked by the Board of Airline representatives, which warned passengers would have to pay for the extensions.
Stewart Milne, the board's executive director, said the airport company was pushing ahead with the plan "without the agreement of the users who will be paying for it and without having clarity on how it will be funded".
Mr Huse, who was chief financial officer for Sydney Airport in the lead-up to Olympic Games, said the development was part of the airport's vision to "represent our country" in time for the Rugby World Cup.
"We are very much focused on 2011 and we will deliver."
The project will bring the baggage hall, customs and biosecurity secondary screening area and the arrivals concourse for meeters and greeters up to a newly developed first floor.
Lifts, sloping travelators and escalators will move passengers between the first and ground floor to parking and public transport facilities.
Mr Huse said it would help improve traffic management and car-parking. The development would also include a wider range of food and drinks outlets, retail centres, foreign exchanges and visitor information.
"Peak queue times will be greatly reduced and border protection will offer a much more welcoming experience," he said.
The plan will overtake improvements being made to the existing arrivals hall, due to be completed by the middle of next year.
But Mr Milne said the decision to proceed was very expensive and the airport's usual approach to charging was "to get the maximum return out of passengers and airlines".
"This highlights the strength of the monopoly position [the airport company] is in."
Mr Huse said the airport would continue to consult on how to pay for the upgrade, but considered it "crucial that finalising the pricing consultation does not prevent completion of the project prior to the 2011 World Cup".
Whether improved infrastructure and public transport links to and from the airport - including a second Manukau Harbour crossing - will be completed remains uncertain.
Mr Huse said the different agencies would have to "pull their weight" to get all the components finished: "We are doing our bit, and working with all the others to ensure all the links in the [transport] chain are in place."
Terminal's improvements
* Faster arrivals processing.
* New arrivals area.
* Better traffic management and more car parking.
* More retail, foreign exchange and food outlets.
* $180 million cost.
* Built in time for RWC 2011.
