Airline capacity into New Zealand is nearing pre-Covid levels, with flights between this country and North America surging during summer.
The influx of new services will result in capacity between Auckland and the United States and Canada going up by 30 per cent on the same time in 2019. New flights will link San Francisco and Christchurch for the first time. It is a major boost to the tourism rebuild but will put added pressure on infrastructure and hotels.
Auckland Airport, under pressure already from the build-up in traffic this year, says it is preparing for the surge in traffic, and an airline group says steps taken there to ease queues seem to be working.
Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand (Barnz) executive director Cath O’Brien said the recovery in the number of seats had been “incredible”, with some airlines not in the market before the pandemic now serving New Zealand.
“Across all international airports, air services have now recovered to 92 per cent of pre-Covid levels, which is incredible when you consider that a couple of years ago our borders were closed,” O’Brien said.
Slot data compiled for Barnz by Airport Co-ordination shows that in December, Auckland will recover to 92 per cent of pre-Covid frequencies and be back up to 96 per cent of pre-Covid seat capacity.
Queenstown will get 25 per cent more international services than it did pre-Covid, and while Christchurch frequencies are down, several carriers now operate more services from the city than they did pre-Covid.
Auckland Airport chief customer officer Scott Tasker said seven airlines would fly non-stop from Auckland to eight destinations in North America, an increase in capacity of more than 30 per cent this summer compared to pre-pandemic.
These airlines are: Air Canada, American Airlines, Air New Zealand, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, Qantas and United Airlines, and destinations are Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Vancouver. This summer there will be non-stop services to New York every day between Air New Zealand and Qantas, services that weren’t operating before the pandemic.
Airlines are pouring capacity into Los Angeles with Air New Zealand and the giant US carriers American, Delta and United flying to LAX. Delta is making its debut in the New Zealand market with daily flights over summer, and United services to LAX are also new.
This has already resulted in prices falling. Victoria Courtney, general manager Flight Centre New Zealand, said increased capacity to North America is mostly due to strong demand from American tourists keen to come here for summer. But that’s good news for New Zealand travellers.
This will result in “plenty of sharp prices” for Kiwis heading in the opposite direction. Of note, airfares to Los Angeles are priced at around $1300, the lowest return fares post-Covid, “which is fantastic for our customers”.
Latest CPI quaterly data from Stats NZ shows, that after steep increases for much of the past year, overall international fares are finally easing.. Prices for international air transport fell nearly 12 per cent between the first and second quater of this year as competition increased.
This summer, Christchurch Airport gets non-stop links to San Francisco for the first time, with United Airlines flying a Dreamliner on the route three times a week.
The airport’s chief executive, Justin Watson, said being able to fly directly to the South Island was attractive for Americans, who do not get many holidays.
“Their forward bookings have been a lot stronger than they expected,” Watson said.
Wellington Airport is expecting airlines to provide 2.9 million seats for this summer compared to 3.28 million for 2018/19 (89 per cent of pre-Covid).
Barnz points out that Virgin continues to only operate to Queenstown - they once operated to Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Dunedin. In addition, there are still carriers who have not returned to the New Zealand market at all, including Philippine Airlines, Samoa Airways, Sichuan Airlines, and Thai Airways.
But some airlines that weren’t in the market in December 2019 will be here: AirAsia X, Delta and Batik Air, all operating to Auckland.
Pre-Covid, Auckland Airport had 29 airlines operating to 43 destinations. This summer it expects to have a peak of 26 airlines operating to 41 destinations.
Auckland Airport’s Tasker said this would be the busiest summer for travel since 2019.
“We’re pulling out all the stops to give passengers a great experience this summer, with plans and preparations well under way for the busy period. Our goal is to ensure customers have a smooth and enjoyable experience every time they visit Auckland Airport and travel onward on their journeys.
“The international arrivals process is a system that relies on teamwork and collaboration, and we’re focused on working alongside our airport partners to make improvements as we head into the summer peak, while ensuring we maintain the integrity of border controls.”
The airport has more added 30 front-line customer staff (more than double) during the last three months. Tasker said the airport has “re-optimised” the use of all baggage carousels in the hall across ground handlers and increased communication via PA announcements.
The airport is working with Biosecurity New Zealand and airlines to support the transit process for those with international to domestic connections.
“This includes testing a process for fast-tracking low-risk arrivals through an express lane, which we’re pleased to say has been working well so far these school holidays and delivering some solid improvements,” Tasker said.
Signs have been upgraded, particularly at key processing points.
“There are likely to be further tweaks as we bring improvements to the system, while making sure important border formalities run effectively,” Tasker said.
Barnz represents nearly all airlines flying here, and has been critical of how the airport has been working this year.
However, O’Brien said steps taken recently have helped.
Trials have demonstrated real improvements in queue times for biosecurity assessment.
“MPI should be congratulated for these improvements, which have required a close examination of what is possible, while minimising risk to New Zealand’s biosecurity border.”
Simon Russell, chief executive of Auckland-based Eagle Aviation Consulting, said it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that air traffic surges during the Christmas and rostering and managing leave over the Christmas peak would be critical for border agencies and the airport.
Grant Bradley has been working at the Herald since 1993. He is the Business Herald’s deputy editor and covers aviation and tourism.
The industry faces challenges but hopes to bring newcomers and veterans together.