Delays, disputes and displacement: The complex history of Auckland International Airport

Ever since he can remember, Alexandru Cotos has been drawn to history. An early fascination with documentaries and historical films led him to enrol in a Bachelor of Arts majoring in history and politics in 2022. Not ready for his studies to end, he applied for the Auckland Library Heritage Trust John Stacpoole Summer Scholarship in his final year.

Funded by the Auckland Library Heritage Trust, the scholarship remembers local architect, historian and bibliophile John Stacpoole, who was instrumental in preserving and restoring key heritage buildings in Auckland. Students are given the opportunity to complete a three-month research project on a self selected aspect of Auckland history, consisting of several 2000-word articles and a presentation at Auckland Library.

Learning he was a recipient solidified Alexandru’s decision to pursue a Bachelor of Arts (Honours).

“It was a great moment,” he recalls. “It was just before graduating, at that time when you’re questioning what you’re going to do with your life. I was in the process of applying for my honours, but I wasn’t sure. When I found out about the scholarship, it really set me on my path.”

He chose to focus his research on compiling a history of Auckland International Airport. Having emigrated from Romania as a baby, the airport was Alexandru’s introduction to New Zealand and the gateway back to Europe for visits home. Like many Aucklanders he was familiar with the landmark but knew little about its past.

“It’s a building that’s culturally significant and a destination that’s important to a lot of Aucklanders, for migration, travel, tourism and jobs,” he says.

As he would soon discover, the bustling transport hub has a lengthy past fraught with complications. He began with two articles detailing the very first flights and airports in Auckland. What was once a somewhat disorderly system with departures from makeshift runways on farms and sea landings in the Waitematā Harbour turned into the shared use of the Whenuapai Air Force Base following the outbreak of World War II.

The process of selecting a designated site began in 1929, but construction wouldn’t start for 30 years due to delays from the war, excessive bureaucracy and disputes between local bodies. Many sites were considered, including Point England in East Tāmaki, Narrow Neck on the North Shore and a proposal to reclaim the entire waterfront at Mission Bay. Finally, in 1955 the government decided that an existing recreational airfield in Māngere would be transformed into New Zealand’s primary international airport and quickly began to acquire properties in the area.

The decision was not without consequences, with a neighbourhood of baches housing approximately one hundred residents demolished to make way for the build. Meanwhile, new zoning laws prohibited construction near a proposed runway site, resulting in the Council denying permission to maintain a nearby marae which had survived the land confiscations of 1863. It fell into disrepair, forcing its occupants to leave. Another devastation for local Māori was the use of rocks from the ancestral maunga Ōtuataua, which was quarried in the 1950s, in the building of the airport.

Alexandru’s fifth and final article focused on community action at the airport after its official opening in 1966. The site has witnessed a contrast of protests and celebrations, from anti-apartheid rallies at the arrival of the Springboks rugby team in 1981 to joyful revelry at a royal visit from Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1983.

Uncovering the airport’s origins provides important background to one of Auckland’s major pieces of infrastructure, establishing it as a significant site of history and highlighting its immense impact.

“The narrative we get about the airport is that it’s such an achievement, but so much was lost to build it,” says Alexandru. “These articles leave an open-ended question about the airport: on one hand, it was needed and perhaps the Māngere site was the best place, but this came at a big cost to local people, communities and the environment.”

He is grateful to the Auckland Library Heritage Trust for spotlighting the importance of Auckland history with the John Stacpoole Summer Scholarship.

“Auckland and even New Zealand history at large is something that is often neglected in everyday discourse. It’s really important that young students have the opportunity to look into local history.”

The experience prompted him to continue exploring the airport for his honours. He is now critically examining the way history is presented at the airport and credits the summer scholarship for equipping him with the skills a dissertation demands.

“Doing this scholarship was a really great opportunity for me, because it gave me a taste of postgraduate study. I feel like I have a big advantage, because I now have experience doing independent supervised research, I know where the databases are, I have connections with archival experts.”

Already Alexandru is considering pursuing a masters degree, likely focused on another aspect of aviation history – but as he says, no pun intended, that’s “up in the air at the moment” while he concentrates on finishing his honours.

View Alexandru’s summer scholarship research online here.