The Air Force Museum of New Zealand is introducing a charge for international visitors from but will remain free for New Zealanders and New Zealand residents to visit.
The $15 charge will apply to visitors aged 18 years and over from 31 March 2025 and the money will go towards the museum’s mission of preserving and sharing the history of New Zealand military aviation for inspiration, commemoration learning and enjoyment.
The museum at Wigram is recognised as one of the top visitor attractions in Christchurch and is a TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Award winner. About 35,000 of the museum’s 176,000 visitors in 2024 were from overseas.
Director Brett Marshall said the charge brought the museum into line with others in the heritage sector who levy overseas visitors. Charging overseas visitors would help ensure that entry would remain free for New Zealanders.
“Overseas visitors have consistently told us they are surprised that we are free so we are not expecting that the introduction of a small charge will put them off coming to see us. They’re used to paying for similar museum visits when they travel,’’ Mr Marshall said.
“We are the home of the Royal New Zealand Air Force and our Roll of Honour includes the names of more than 4800 New Zealanders who have lost their lives while in service in our air force and others around the world, so remaining free for Kiwis is a not negotiable for us.’’
The museum’s collection is owned by a not-for-profit trust and receives ongoing support from the New Zealand Defence Force.
“We’ve absorbed a lot of increased costs over the past few years and we are also embarking on a $16 million expansion to house two new aircraft – our Orion and our Hercules – so the levy will help with that.’’
The museum opened its doors in 1987 at Wigram, the birthplace of military aviation in New Zealand.
