Auckland Airport passenger traffic grows

Auckland International Airport is continuing to see upward trends in passenger numbers, with May’s 464,315 domestic travellers 7.1% ahead of the same month in 2009.

Auckland’s experience mirrors Air New Zealand, which announced domestic passenger numbers carried in May were 6% ahead of last year. Improving economic conditions have helped stoke demand for travel, said Auckland Airport spokesman Richard Llewellyn.

“Having three domestic carriers helps drive very competitive fares,” he said. “That’s stimulated demand, and we’ve had good performance from the airlines themselves. They’ve also been working hard to create demand themselves in terms of promotional activities such as Air New Zealand and Jetstar encouraging short trips to Wellington and Christchurch.”

Llewellyn also rates the airlines’ for “good, sensible management practices,” as they mixed and matched aircraft to demand, putting smaller planes on some routes if required. This is reflected in the growth in domestic passenger numbers being carried with 1% fewer aircraft movements at Auckland Airport.

Air New Zealand and Qantas Airways’ Jetstar unit compete with Pacific Blue, a unit of Virgin Blue, on domestic routes.

International passenger numbers have also grown, with May’s 545,048 total 1.8% ahead of last year.  Australian visitors were down 3.7% on May 2009, though this Llewellyn said that partly reflects the ‘between-season’ nature of the month, and numbers should increase again once the ski season gets properly underway.

Hidden within the airport’s traffic update was another signal that the economy’s climbing out of the recession. Business/conference traffic grew 17.4% from last May, standing at 43,780 for the month.

The number of Japanese visitors sky-rocketed 89% in the month comparison, albeit to 4,938 in May 2010.

Shares of the airport company fell 0.5% to $1.93.

Businesswire.co.nz

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