UPDATE:Auckland Airport welcomes more international passengers as visitors from China surge

Monday 22nd March 2010

Auckland International Airport Ltd., the country’s largest gateway, greeted more international visitors last month, especially from China and Hong Kong, a sign that air travel may be reviving as the global economy recovers.

International passenger volumes rose 4.6% to 551,086 from February 2009, according to the airport’s monthly traffic statistics. China and Hong Kong led international visitor growth, up 40% to 19,200, mainly due to the Chinese New Year falling in February this year, as opposed to its usual month of January.

In a separate release today, Air New Zealand announced total passengers carried for the February year rose 3.1% to 997,000 from the same month a year earlier.

Australia, New Zealand’s biggest source of visitors, increased its arrivals by 4.3% to 51,837. With a weaker dollar, New Zealand has become the popular and affordable holiday option for Australians. The kiwi fell to 77.24 Australian cents from 77.34 cents on Friday in New York.

Air New Zealand has taken advantage of this by announcing it will reduce trans-Tasman fares, starting in June to win customers from Qantas Airways, Emirates and Virgin Blue. The airline’s February short haul passenger numbers, which include Trans-Tasman, domestic and Pacific flights, rose 4.3% to 857,000.

“If the world feels wealthier, they’re going to travel more,” said Paul Robertshawe, who helps manage $750 million at Tower Asset Management Ltd.

He said New Zealand benefits from its proximity to Australia, which makes a trans-Tasman flight shorter than some domestic routes and an affordable option for a weekend away.“New Zealand is usually the cheapest option, which will be swinging their decision.”

Shares of Auckland Airport fell 2.1% to $1.91 a share on the NZX today and are down 2.7% this year.

Overall inbound tourism for the twelve months ended February 28 was up 2.5% to 2.5 million – a slowly recovering trend as the global economy mildly picks up, according to Statistics New Zealand figures released last week.

Japanese arrivals on Auckland Airport’s runways rose 12.3% to 6,977, reflecting the improving economic conditions and the success of a special summer charter service Air New Zealand announced in September last year, the company said. The charters, which operated from Nagoya and Okinawa over the December-January tourist season, were designed to help grow visitor arrivals in New Zealand from Japan.

Domestic passenger numbers also rose last month, up 10.8% to 502,999. This increase continues a strong growth trend, mainly driven by Jetstar replacing Qantas airlines on domestic routes from July 2009.

Air New Zealand’s domestic passengers carried climbed 7% to 661,000. The airline expects passenger numbers on local routes to boom next year, and last week announced it’s building capacity from January 2011 in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup. Its shares are unchanged at $1.30, having gone up 44.4% over the past year.

Total aircraft movements were up 1.4% to 12,525 for the 2010 February year.

Businesswire.co.nz

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