WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) 鈥 For more than a decade, passengers at New Zealand 鈥檚 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 鈥 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鈥檚 connection to 鈥檚 鈥淟ord of the Rings鈥 and Hobbit films, will depart the terminal for good, Wellington Airport announced Monday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been quite a Lord of the Rings-heavy storytelling theme in here,鈥 said airport chief executive Matt Clarke. 鈥淣ow we鈥檙e looking to change that to something new.鈥
鈥淚t breaks my heart,鈥 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. 鈥淧lease, please reconsider.鈥
鈥淭aking them away is un-New Zealand,鈥 joked another airport visitor, Michael Parks.
The eagles were crafted by the film props and effects company W膿t膩 Workshop, which created tens of thousands of props for the Oscar-winning fantasy films directed by Jackson -- one of Wellington鈥檚 best-known residents, who lives on an isthmus near the airport. The movies based on 鈥檚 beloved novels generated billions of dollars in tourism revenue for New Zealand and employed thousands of people in Wellington over the 15 years of the movies鈥 production.
But during the years the eagles have hovered in the terminal, Tolkien tourism has waned in Wellington 鈥 although the city will perhaps always be synonymous with Jackson鈥檚 films. Guided tours still convey fans to the settings of famous scenes from the films and to visit production companies such as W膿t膩, which will create a new display for the airport, to be unveiled later this year, Clarke said.
Travelers have until Friday to admire the birds, which will then be put into storage, Clarke said. He hopes the creatures 鈥 which each feature 1,000 3D printed feathers 鈥 will find a home at a museum.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a spectacular thing for little kids to see,鈥 Clarke said. 鈥淓ven your old, grizzled businessmen, they still pull out their phones and take a quick cheeky photo too.鈥
Wellington Airport isn鈥檛 losing its quirky side. An enormous sculpture of The Hobbit鈥檚 gold-hoarding dragon, Smaug, will remain overlooking the check-in counters.
