Christchurch Airport voted International Airport Of The Year

Airport Chief Executive Jim Boult says he is delighted by the award.

"Those of us close to the airport think it's a very special place and it seems travellers agree," he says.

"To have readers of the widely respected magazine Travel Digest vote us the International Airport Of The Year is stunning.

"We are running both an airport and a construction zone at the moment while we complete development of the new terminal, so it's reassuring to have travellers see past the construction and appreciate what we are building.

"We are opening another large new area of the terminal tomorrow, December 1, with the final work due for completion mid-March next year."

Mr Boult says this award is a tribute to the airport staff, who also recently won an award for staff engagement.

"I said it then and I'll say it again ... it is a pleasure to know the staff around the airport love coming to work here as much as I do.

"Their efforts through the past two years of natural emergencies have been outstanding and today's award makes it clear those efforts have not gone un-noticed by travellers through the airport."

Travel Digest magazine has been published for the past 33 years and is considered the leading monthly travel industry publication in New Zealand.  Its Travel Industry Awards are made annually.