Auckland Airport needs to repair parts of the runway and nearby taxiways, and will build a new domestic jet terminal. Video / Auckland Airport
Auckland Airport says a new cargo precinct should take some strain off roads and has today reported a big increase in some fresh produce freighted in summer.
Overall, fruit and vegetable air freight was up 34% in December, January and February compared with the same threemonths a year before.
The airport said avocado air freight was up 175% to 1448 tonnes, with key export markets including Australia, Thailand and Singapore.
The airport said avocado company Avanza had indicated impacts from last month’s Cyclone Tam were not yet fully known.
Cherries were the top summer export item in terms of tonnage.
The airport’s chief customer officer Scott Tasker said 2888 tonnes of cherries, enough to fill 30 Boeing 747 freighters, were freighted to destinations including China and Vietnam.
Summer air freight from Auckland also included 1493 tonnes of capsicums.
The airport said capsicum key export destinations were Japan and Australia.
“We saw solid growth at Auckland over summer with an increase in fresh produce, not just avocados but also cherries and blueberries, all being freighted in the belly hold of aircraft,” Tasker said.
Blueberries freighted out of Auckland amounted to 935 tonnes, up 36% on the previous summer.
Apart from fresh produce, air freight exports included infant formula, biscuits and jam.
Auckland Airport said its share of total New Zealand international air cargo was 86%.
Auckland Airport's impression of the proposed northern airfield expansion and cargo precinct. Photo / Supplied
The new cargo precinct on Manu Tapu Drive will be adjacent to the 250,000sq m airfield expansion.
“Cargo is a core part of the airport eco-system but currently, cargo and freight operators are spread out across the precinct from when it was set up in the late 1960s,” Tasker said.
“To make things more efficient, these operators will be progressively moving into a single cargo precinct. This new precinct will function more like a modern port.”
The precinct should also connect with an upgraded roading network.
The airport said the project should improve access through the newly built Te Ara Kōrako, as well as improvements to Joseph Hammond Rd, George Bolt Memorial Drive and Manu Tapu Drive.
“This will move truck trips off the main roads to the passenger terminals at Auckland Airport and instead send them directly to the cargo precinct,” the airport said.
The project was expected to take some incoming and outgoing cargo off the airport’s core roading network and prioritise customer journeys to airport terminals.
“A daily wide-body passenger aircraft across a year can carry around $500 million in high-value freight,” the airport said.
“These contributed to over $2.6 billion in total of exported goods over the summer season.”
Air freighter models include this Airbus A300-600ST, nicknamed Beluga, seen here in Kobe City, Japan. Photo / Naoki Maeda,Yomiuri, Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP
Auckland Airport said it was New Zealand’s third-largest port by cargo value handled, with $26.6b of exports and imports combined last year.
Tauranga and Auckland are the country’s biggest ports by cargo value handled.
The airport on Tuesday released its updated master plan and said a second runway previously signalled to be operational by 2028 would now likely be pushed out by a decade.
Forsyth Barr analysts this week said regulatory risk for Auckland Airport had increased with a review of how airports are overseen.
The Ministry of Business, Immigration and Employment (MBIE) competition policy team is conducting the review.
Forsyth Barr analysts said the airport’s “dual till” model could be at risk.
They said the model provided for retail, car parking, and commercial activities to be unregulated, in contrast to regulated aeronautical activities.
US duty-free ban looms, global air cargo demand up in March
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) this week said total cargo demand was up 4.4% in March compared with a year earlier.
“March cargo volumes were strong,” IATA director general Willie Walsh said.
“It is possible that this is partly a front-loading of demand as some businesses tried to beat the well-telegraphed April 2 tariff announcement by the Trump Administration.”
Walsh said uncertainty over tariffs might eventually weigh on trade but, for now, lower fuel costs were a boon for air cargo.
IATA said jet fuel prices in March were down 17.3% year-on-year.
It said a US ban taking effect today on duty-free imports from China and Hong Kong may have prompted companies and buyers to make purchases in advance to avoid significant import fees.
The White House said US President Donald Trump was targeting deceptive shipping practices by Chinese-based shippers.
The White House said many of those shippers were hiding “illicit substances, including synthetic opioids, in low-value packages” to exploit the duty-free exemption.
