(5 May 2025)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wellington – 5 May 2025
1. Various of eagles statue inside Wellington Airport terminal
2. Various of people sitting underneath eagle statues inside terminal
3. Passengers queuing inside terminal, eagle statues above them in background
4. Wellington Airport chief executive officer, Matt Clarke, walking inside terminal
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Matt Clarke, Wellington Airport chief executive officer:
"I think we’re really lucky as a city to have Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh here and obviously being Wellingtonians they based their whole filmmaking empire around Wellington really, which is obviously the, I guess, the biggest part of that has been the Lord of the Rings franchise. And so having something in the terminal, I think if you were around long enough you’ll remember the first Gollum that we had on the outside of the terminal, right back when the first movie was released. Then we had the Gollum on the inside of the terminal, chasing the big trout or salmon, I think they were. And then we’ve got Smaug the magnificent that’s still in the terminal on the other side by the check-in counter as well. So, it’s been quite a Lord of the Rings-heavy storytelling theme in here, and now we’re looking to change that to something new."
6. Eagle statues in terminal above food court
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Verity Johnson, passenger:
"It breaks my heart. Please reconsider. Please bring them back, make them stay."
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Parks, passenger:
"These eagles are great. Taking them away is un-New Zealand."
9. Various of people walking underneath eagle statues
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Matt Clarke, Wellington Airport chief executive officer:
"It’s a spectacular thing for little kids to see, particularly, and I think that’s been the biggest reaction. But even your old grizzled businessmen, they always pull out their phones and take a quick cheeky photo too, so."
11. People walking past Smaug dragon instalment
12. Wellington sign inside airport
13. Exterior of Wellington Airport
STORYLINE:
For more than a decade, passengers at New Zealand’s Wellington Airport have boarded flights below the figures of two giant, hovering eagles from the Hobbit films, one bearing a bellowing wizard Gandalf.
With 50-foot (15-meter) wingspans and weighing 2,600 pounds (1.1 ton) each, the sculptures that hover in the terminal have delighted tourists and scared children since 2013.
Their tenure was eventful — one became unmoored from its fixings during a severe earthquake in 2016, and plummeted onto the terminal floor below. No one was hurt.
But this month the majestic creatures, which underscore the capital city’s connection to Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” and Hobbit films, will depart the terminal for good, Wellington Airport announced Monday.
"It’s been quite a Lord of the Rings-heavy storytelling theme in here," said airport chief executive Matt Clarke. "Now we’re looking to change that to something new."
"It breaks my heart," said one traveler, Verity Johnson, who sat beneath a grasping eagle claw in the food court on Monday.
The sculptures had impressed her since she was young. "Please reconsider," she said.
"Taking them away is un-New Zealand," joked another airport visitor, Michael Parks.
The eagles were crafted by the film props and effects company Wētā Workshop, which created tens of thousands of props for the Oscar-winning fantasy films directed by Jackson — one of Wellington’s best-known residents, who lives on an isthmus near the airport.
Wellington Airport isn’t losing its quirky side.
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