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The impact of the financial crisis hit passenger numbers at Auckland International Airport last month.
The figures came as a rating agency said Auckland and other airports in Australasia should be able to weather a slowdown in traffic over the next few years.
Figures from Auckland Airport show
a 5.9 per cent decrease over the same month last year, although international passenger volumes are up 1.0 per cent on a 12-month rolling basis.
The school holidays moving into October by a week this year (compared to last year when they were in September) meant September's New Zealand resident arrivals decreased by 8779.
However, on a 12-month rolling basis New Zealand resident arrivals were up 19,046.
Major markets showing a downward trend were the United States, Britain, China and Korea.
Chinese arrivals at Auckland Airport dropped by 2137 in August and 2588 in September, which the airport attributed to the Olympic Games in August, May's Sichuan earthquake, and travel bans for government officials.
Arrivals from Australia were up 3.1 per cent for September.
India and Germany showed a continuing upward trend with September arrivals up 6 per cent and 20.8 per cent respectively, and on a 12-month rolling basis arrival volumes were up 2748 and 2488 respectively.
Domestic passenger volumes continued the upward trend, up 44,236 compared with the same month last year. Competition in the domestic market continued to drive strong growth.
Shares in Auckland International Airport closed down 7c at $1.72 on the NZX50 yesterday.
A report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services out yesterday showed Australian and New Zealand airports should be able to endure a slowdown in passenger traffic over the next few years, despite the the faltering global economy.
The liquidity positions of the region's rated airports and their flexibility to defer capital projects in line with traffic trends underscored this view, according to a report released by credit analyst Tammy Garay.
The report, titled 'Traffic growth skids, but a soft landing is manageable for rated Australian and NZ airports', said unless the global downturn worsens and there was a protracted economic decline rated airports were expected to grow, bolstered by domestic travel.
Despite softening of passenger growth expectations over the next two years, low-cost carriers were expected to keep competitive pressure on airfares and stimulate passenger travel.
Compounding a bleak outlook for international travel was the sharp devaluation in the New Zealand and Australian dollars.
Around the world passenger traffic declined 2.9 per cent compared to September 2007, the first time since the SARS crisis in 2003 that global passenger traffic has shrunk.