Arrests follow airport assault

A man was smashed in the head and body with a tyre iron while still in his car when set upon by boy racers outside Wellington Airport.

Detective Paul Baskett said the 27-year-old was bleeding badly and required four stitches to the head after two male attackers set upon him at the departure dropoff ramp at about 3.30am on Saturday.

A third male shattered the windscreen of his Honda Integra with a golf club.

Two Hutt Valley teens, both 17, and a 21-year-old man have been arrested for the attack and will appear in court on Wednesday.

Mr Baskett said the incident happened about 3am when two groups had an altercation somewhere in central Wellington, then chased each other in their cars up Cambridge Tce.

He said the Toyota Altezza the Hutt Valley group were in spun out of control and crashed into a road sign. Seeking vengeance, they drove around Wellington's eastern suburbs looking for the other group.

The injured man, who started following the trio in his car at some point, had nothing to do with the night's events.

"They stopped outside the airport and he's come up the ramp and had nowhere to go. He's lucky not to have been more seriously hurt," Mr Baskett said.

"From his point of view he's a victim. These guys were just looking for someone to take their frustration out on."

The three involved in the attack drove off from the scene but were later arrested at a compulsory drink-drive checkpoint.

Mr Baskett said the injured man was "obviously not very happy" but had been discharged from hospital.

The attack may have been witnessed by people disembarking from a flight.