Hamilton Airport is gearing up for its first international boarding call since 2012 ahead of overseas flights returning on June 16.
The refurbished terminal included full border controls, a new duty-free store and a café.
The first Jetstar flight from Sydney touches down in Hamilton in less than two weeks, and would operate three return flights a week to the Gold Coast and four to Sydney.
Hamilton Airport chief executive Mark Morgan said the region had “matured” in the last 10 to 20 years.
“It’s the fastest growing city, the importance of the upper North Island, connectivity, we have 1.3 million people within about an hour and a half drive time of this airport.”
NZ Airports Association chief executive Billie Moore said the addition of services out of the Waikato centre was a “fantastic milestone”.
“The business activity in the aviation market can only be a good thing in terms of adding some dynamism that we haven’t seen for a while in New Zealand with the dominance of the national carrier.”
She said she was hoping for “potential pressure” and other ideas for market growth.
“What this means is more choice for Kiwis, you can have more selection around how you might travel and people are able to travel closer to home.”