The last stop before Wellington Airport (WLG) typically is either Auckland or an airport in Australia (e.g., Sydney).

Travelling through Auckland means enjoying stunning views of Auckland before landing. You go through customs in Auckland, i.e., claim your luggage, put it through (bio-) security and then check it in again to Wellington. The domestic and international terminals at Auckland are about a 15 minute footwalk apart but you can have your luggage transferred by the airline or take a free bus with your luggage. The flight from Auckland to Wellington takes about one hour. Air travel within New Zealand is very relaxed, rather like riding a train. There are no more customs or bio-security checks in Wellington.

Further information on using Auckland as a stop over point will be made available shortly.

The flight from Sydney to Wellington takes about 3 hours. If your itinerary includes a longish stop over in Australia it could be worth applying for an Australian visa online. You can then use the time to visit Sydney, for instance its famous harbour. Without a visa, you would have to stay within the airport.

Which of the two routes described above you take depends on

Air New Zealand offers attractively priced tickets that allow for multi-day stopovers on a multitude of attractive locations including (but not limited to) Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa, Honolulu, Vancouver, San Francisco, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, London and multiple locations in Australia. For example: A ticket from Amsterdam to Wellington with one week stopovers in Los Angeles, Tahiti and Beijing can be had for around €1,400 (US$ 1,900 or £1,200), depending on the chosen dates. Look for the multi-stop itinerary application on the Air New Zealand website or for the similar oneworld service from Quantas.

Getting into New Zealand is straightforward for many nationalities as there is no need for an explicit visa if your country is among the list of Visa-waiver countries.

Europeans going via Los Angeles Airport (LAX) need to apply for a USA visa. Even when you are in transit only, you are treated as if you were a visitor to the United States. Obtaining a visa waiver is easy by registering online for the "Visa Waiver Program". However, you are required to pay a fee of US$ 14. You can avoid the extra challenges presented by using Los Angeles as a stop over point, which includes picking up your luggage and carrying along quite a number of terminals, by taking the other route around the globe, using e.g., Singapore or Hong Kong.

The conference venue is approximately a 20 min. drive away from Wellington Airport (WLG).

View "Getting to the Venue" in a larger map

One can go via

• bus,
• airport flyer (fast bus, regarding the time table, stop "Courtenay Place - Blair Street" is the relevant one),
• airport shuttle (multi-person taxis, aka "Door-to-door shuttles"),
• or taxi (the venue and nearby hotels are closer than the "Railway Station" so you can use this destination for the linked to "price guide" table in order to lookup up the expected fare).

You may use the Wellington airport layout diagram to locate your transport of choice.

If you are planning on visiting MODELS 2011, we advise you to complete your itinerary as soon as possible. Wellington is involved in hosting the Rugby World Cup 2011 and while the semi-finals and finals are scheduled to take place in Auckland while/after MODELS 2011 is taking place, there will still be a higher than usual demand for flights and hotels.