One of Air New Zealand's top executives, Norm Thompson has been named by an Australian newspaper as being one of the participants in an alleged trans-tasman cargo cartel.

Auckland Airport says arriving transtasman travellers will benefit from significant time savings as a result of streamlined border systems.

Keen to kick-start a four-month adventure through Southeast Asia with a few weeks of R&R, we'd flown from Bangkok to Koh Samui.