Riding a bike to Christchurch airport

Posted on December 23, 2025

This post was written as a guest post for Cycling in Christchurch. The version there has some good images nabbed from Streetview too.

Last weekend I had an overnight trip to Auckland booked. So I thought I could ride my bike for once and save myself two days’ parking or a return Uber fare. A change of clothes and a few other items fit neatly into a pannier that could become carry-on luggage. I was feeling smug as I contemplated how easy it would all be.

My flight was at 9 am. Google Maps and OpenStreetMap agreed it would take about 45 minutes from my place. I guessed that allowing for check-in time and a little extra, leaving soon after 7:30 would do it, and there wouldn’t be much traffic on a Saturday morning. In the end it took around 40 minutes. I probably pushed a bit more than usual with the anxiety of a novel trip.

The good news is I was correct that there would be very little traffic. The bad news is that this was just as well. I had already ruled out Russley Road as too hazardous for me with its 80km/h speed limit. What I hadn’t realised is that Memorial Avenue is hostile for bikes. Most of it has no cycle lane marked. It’s lined with parked cars. And the last blocks are double laned and 60km/hr. While the road code might encourage 1.5 m passing distance when motorists pass someone on a bike, none of the cars I encountered did so. I would hate to think what I might encounter at peak traffic on a week day. It is possible for me to evade some of Memorial Avenue by taking Ilam Rd with its mostly protected route, or perhaps taking another 10 minutes trundling through Waimairi Road, Athol Terrace and Avonhead Road, but those last few hundred metres of Memorial Avenue are unavoidable. Given the near absence of pedestrians one might be forgiven for taking the footpath… Once past the intersection with Russley Road, a painted cycle lane appears. But it disappears before the roundabout leading to the airport.

At this point I knew to head for the parking building, where there is a pretty good bike rack tucked away just before the pickup/dropoff zone. If you were unfamiliar I don’t know how you would find it since there is absolutely no signage. The easiest way to access it is to take the right hand lane going into the carpark building, skirt the barrier arm, and take a right at the last bank of car park bays where the EV chargers are. Then you can use the kerb cuts on to the footpath at the pickup/dropoff area before heading left around the corner to the bike racks. If you have an ebike there are a couple of sockets reserved for ebike charging. The racks are nice and solid, sheltered, and visible from several angles, so I felt ok about chaining my bike up overnight. I didn’t use it, but there’s a work stand with tools and a pump outside the main terminal. It’s probably intended for those who are reassembling or packing down a bike taken on a plane, but good to know if you limped into the airport with a flat tyre.

The return leg, around 8 pm on a Sunday, was blessedly untroubled by motor traffic for the most part. But again I was buzzed by drivers on Memorial Ave from Russley until I could turn off somewhere safer. And the exit from the airport was a bit stressful. The short term car park exit is in a lane merging on your left, so there is the risk of a fast moving car on either side of you.

While the majority of the round trip was pleasant and safe, and the facilities at the airport itself are quite good, I can’t recommend the kilometre or so around the airport to anyone but confident riders. It would be much worse in normal weekday traffic too. I am a regular transport cyclist but can’t say I fancy it for my next business trip. It’s not clear to me how all the bad bits would be remedied without the usual outcry about taking away parking spaces, but some signs and paint could go some way to improving it. In the meanwhile I don’t see myself doing it again except for another weekend getaway.

Tags: bicycle, transport, Christchurch, elsewhere

Comments

Comments on blogs are the OG social media. If you don't see a form here, you can email me and selected comments may be posted below.