Auckland Airport review: Unacceptable passenger experience at auckland international airport departure hall

I am writing to express my utmost dissatisfaction and disappointment regarding the appalling passenger service, poor operational arrangements, and overall incompetence demonstrated at Auckland International Airport’s departure hall. My recent experience there was nothing short of chaotic, frustrating, and deeply disappointing — far below what is expected of a major international airport.

1. Inadequate and Unhelpful On-Ground Airline Crews
The on-ground crews from various airlines, including those stationed near the self-check-in kiosks, displayed an unacceptable level of unhelpfulness and indifference. Many of the staff members, who appeared to be local New Zealand citizens of Mauritian descent, were unwilling to assist passengers who were not flying with their respective airlines.
When approached for guidance, they refused to help, simply stating, “Please look for your respective airline staff,” before walking away — often with dismissive or arrogant attitudes. Such behavior is entirely unprofessional, especially for personnel representing an international gateway like Auckland Airport.

Even the on-ground Malaysia Airlines (MAS) crew members stationed there were rude, impatient, and visibly unwilling to provide proper assistance to their own passengers, often displaying attitude and irritation instead of professionalism.

2. Poorly Designed and Confusing Self Check-In System
The self-check-in kiosk area was extremely congested, poorly organized, and highly impractical. Dozens of kiosks were packed tightly in a confined space, with hundreds of passengers and trolleys blocking access to the machines. Many kiosks were physically unreachable, resulting in long queues and unnecessary confusion.

Worse still, there was a complete lack of clear signage and crew instructions. Passengers, including myself, had to undergo multiple rounds of trial and error just to perform the simplest check-in steps. Despite having completed online check-in in advance, I was forced to repeat the entire process at the kiosk — without any clear explanation why.

To make matters worse, I was not informed that baggage check-in tags needed to be printed at the kiosk as well. Only after queueing for baggage drop-off was I told to return to the kiosk to print the luggage tags myself. After following the same steps multiple times, the kiosks repeatedly printed boarding passes (I ended up holding 5 boarding passes for myself) instead of baggage tags. Despite trying on three different kiosks, the same issue occurred each time.

3. Lack of Willingness to Assist
When I sought help, the nearby airline ground crews again refused to assist, claiming they were “not from my airline.” One Qatar Airways staff member reluctantly tried to help but quickly gave up when the issue persisted, once again pointing me toward MAS staff and walking away. Such dismissive and irresponsible attitudes are completely unacceptable for airport personnel.

Eventually, the MAS ground crew who initially misinformed me about self-tagging told me to go directly to the baggage counter, contradicting their earlier instruction that kiosks were mandatory for tag printing. This level of inconsistency clearly shows a serious lack of staff training and communication.

4. Illogical 32kg Baggage Weight Restriction
At baggage drop-off, I was told that Auckland Airport enforces a strict 32kg per baggage rule, despite my Malaysia Airlines allowance being 35kg per bag. I was instructed to remove 1.7kg from one bag and shift it to another lighter bag — despite having a combined allowance of 70kg for two travelers.

This rule, while perhaps a local airport safety policy, was never communicated beforehand, either by the airline or by the airport. It is highly unreasonable to inform passengers of such a rule only at the final baggage counter, causing unnecessary delays, inconvenience, and confusion. Such poor communication reflects badly on the airport’s management and coordination with airlines.

5. Summary
The entire departure experience at Auckland International Airport was disorganized, unprofessional, and unacceptable for an international standard. The lack of helpfulness, rude demeanor of staff, unclear instructions, and inefficient systems all reflect a severe failure in staff training, passenger service, and airport management.

This experience has left me with a lasting negative impression of Auckland Airport and New Zealand’s ground service culture. As a frequent traveler who has visited many countries, I can confidently say this was the worst airport experience I have ever encountered. It has caused me to reconsider any future travel plans involving Auckland Airport and to strongly discourage others from flying through it.

I urge the airport authority and management team to take immediate action to investigate this matter seriously — including staff retraining, proper passenger information systems, and improved supervision of on-ground service standards.