Tom Woodhouse and his wife Rachael Jones flew from Auckland to their home town of Dunedin yesterday for a special Christmas with family.
With them was their 10-month-old daughter Isabel Woodhouse, who had not seen her grandparents in months.
Ms Jones said they were looking forward to a meal of ham and turkey for Christmas dinner.
Their flight was slightly delayed and the airport had been pretty busy, but the trip had been fine, she said.
Her mother, Sue Jones, was also looking forward to the Christmas celebration.
"It’s going to be lovely, just lovely," Ms Jones said.
Likewise, Otago University campus cop John Woodhouse said he had been looking forward to seeing the whole family together for a long time.
"There’s a lot of presents under the tree," Mr Woodhouse said.
Dunedin Airport marketing and customer experience manager Christopher Snow said that between Air New Zealand and Jetstar, about 3500 passengers went through the airport yesterday, making it one of the busiest days of the year.
While Fridays were usually busy, the planes had been full yesterday, which made a difference.
"Today’s a good day," Mr Snow said.
People were coming for Christmas and catching up with family and friends, which was good to see.
"It’s awesome," Mr Snow said.
