The first twice-weekly flight from the Cook Islands landed 10.50am today, following the establishment of a one-way travel bubble between the two countries.
Mii Nolan was at the airport with her mother, and said it is an historic moment.
She had been waiting for her daughter and two grandsons.
“It’s really exciting. We’re getting emotional now, because we haven’t seen them. We talk to them, but seeing them is totally different.”
Mangere resident Richard Lyden was there to meet his wife, who had been in the Cook Islands for six weeks to see a sick family member.
He believed a travel bubble with the Pacific should have been opened a long time ago.
Auckland Airport’s Scott Tasker said there was a deep clean of the transit area before the flight arrived.
