# Wellington International Airport (WLG)

> Wellington, NZ · IATA: WLG · ICAO: NZWN · Large Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `WLG` |
| ICAO | `NZWN` |
| City | Wellington |
| Country | NZ |
| Type | Large Airport |
| Elevation | 12 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | -41.32720, 174.80499 |

## Description

A single 2,081-metre runway squeezed between Cook Strait and residential suburbs defines what Wellington International Airport (WLG/NZWN) can and cannot do in air freight. Widebody aircraft and intercontinental freighters cannot serve it in regular operations, and the airport has historically accounted for only about 1,500 tonnes, roughly 0.4%, of New Zealand's air cargo. Volumes move almost entirely as belly cargo on narrowbody domestic and trans-Tasman services, supplemented by overnight express traffic; there is no dedicated intercontinental cargo terminal on site. Ground handling is available from operators including Menzies Aviation. Overseas imports realistically arrive via Auckland (AKL), where they are cleared or moved under customs control before a road leg of roughly 640 kilometres to Wellington. Palmerston North (PMR, about 145 kilometres north) is the established domestic overnight freight base, while Christchurch (CHC) serves the South Island. The New Zealand Customs Service and the Ministry for Primary Industries apply strict biosecurity screening to food, timber, plants and animal products, so allow extra transit time and complete origin documentation. In practice, most time-critical shipments to the capital combine air freight to Auckland with a road feeder service.

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

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

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