Nelson Airport is installing an extra exit barrier to help reduce carpark congestion.
The airport has seen an unprecedented growth in the past six months which put strain on airport infrastructure including the carpark.
Airport operations manager James Middlewick said the increase in the number of people using the airport resulted in "quite significant queues" at the carpark's one and only exit.
He said the second exit, located right next to the existing one, is being worked on and will hopefully be ready for use from August 22.
Airport visitors could pay with paywave at the exit if their total bill was under $80.
Middlewick said the airport had a record 865,023 passengers coming through in the past year.
"It's quite phenomenal, really good for a regional airport of our size."
Middlewick said they hoped to break the one million passenger milestone before the end of this year, but he said they would definitely break it within the next two years.
An extra 300 carpark spaces would also be added to the 600 existing ones and gravel will be layed on 200 overflow spaces on the grass to improve that area.