"It's pretty unreal," he said of the turn-out. "The Dunedin public's got in behind the team all season so it's pretty awesome to bring the trophy back for them."
Buckman said there were a few celebrations last night.
"Friends and family came back to the hotel and had a few beers but nothing too major - we've got a big couple of days ahead."
Airport fire staff estimated the crowd to be at least 2000, with cars parked on the side of the road back to Momona township.
Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark described the welcome as "unreal" on the back of five years of hard work from the organisation.
Excited fans dressed in the team strip, waved the Highlanders flag and sung the team's song as the champions landed at Dunedin airport.
The team's plane was waved in by ground crew using Highlanders' flags, and when they disembarked, led by co-captains Ben Smith and Nasi Manu, the champions looked overwhelmed by the thousands who gathered to welcome them.
After 19 seasons of heartbreak and underachievement, the Highlanders' winning efforts unleashed emotional scenes from hardcore fans last night with many seen doing the Highland fling in the aisles of Westpac Stadium - and in the deep south - as Jamie Joseph's band of rugby heroes last night claimed their first Super Rugby title.
Cafes and retail businesses at Dunedin Airport have been overwhelmed with crowds at the airport shoulder to shoulder.
Kitchen workers at The Bach cafe are run off their feet.
"Downstairs you can't move, at all. It is quite packed," said a woman working at the cafe.
Out in the arrivals hall, reporter Adam Walker said it is so packed you can hardly move.
"There is a sea of blue and gold; expectant faces; kids in the front row, sitting down, watching; a kapa haka group getting ready to have a bit of a practice about how they are going to welcome the team in and we have a brass band."
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull managed to squeeze in.
He is expecting the next few days will be overtaken by pride in what the team has achieved.
"Look I think this is just the start of people...of the whole community... showing its pride in the achievement of the boys. Tomorrow's big parade will be even bigger. But this is, I understand, the biggest crowd ever to fill the airport."
- NZ Herald with additional reporting from the Otago Daily Times
