# Christchurch International Airport (CHC)

> Christchurch, NZ · IATA: CHC · ICAO: NZCH · Large Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `CHC` |
| ICAO | `NZCH` |
| City | Christchurch |
| Country | NZ |
| Type | Large Airport |
| Elevation | 37 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | -43.48903, 172.53206 |

## Description

Lamb, beef, fresh salmon, rock lobster and South Island fruit fill the freighters leaving Christchurch, where perishables account for up to 75 percent of cargo throughput. As the South Island's principal airport, it now dispatches eight freighter departures a day, double the pre-pandemic figure. Air New Zealand Cargo operates from the airport, while Qantas Freight is lifting its Sydney–Christchurch freighter service via Auckland from four to five flights a week from late August 2026 and adding a new weekly Melbourne link; DHL bases a Boeing 767 with partner Tasman Cargo Airlines for runs to Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne. Scheduled freight also reaches Palmerston North and overseas markets in Australia, Dubai, Singapore, China and the United States. An apron expansion project is adding roughly 30,000 square metres of apron and 15,000 square metres of taxiway to meet rising freight demand. On-site cool-chain operators and overnight road feeders deliver chilled salmon and meat in the early morning for same-day flights, keeping speed to market tight. The airport has also served since the 1950s as the launch base for Operation Deep Freeze Antarctic flights flown by US and New Zealand military aircraft. That blend of agricultural export and polar supply runs gives Christchurch an unusually broad cargo profile.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/christchurch-international-airport-chc](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/christchurch-international-airport-chc)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/christchurch-international-airport-chc](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/christchurch-international-airport-chc)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/christchurch-international-airport-chc/llm-summary*