Boom times hit Auckland Airport in June

In its latest annual report from Auckland International Airport it was revealed the number of staff in the $1m plus bracket had moved from two to five. Photo / Greg Bowker

Booming airline traffic around the world has helped boost passenger numbers through Auckland Airport.

The airport recorded a 7.2 per cent increase in international passengers during June with the total up to 593,000. For the year to the end of June total passengers are up 5.7 per cent to 8.6 million.

The company said growth was underpinned by robust demand across all regions with passenger loadings increasing across the network.

International Air Transport Association figures for may show passenger travel on international markets rose 6.2 per cent in May compared to a year ago, accelerating on the 3.8 per cent increase in April.

At Auckland airport the June figures show the strongest growth was from China. Arrivals leaped 27 per cent to close to 16,000 and this market will be further boosted this year by extra capacity by China Southern Airlines and China Eastern. For the year to the end of June 292,000 Chinese arrived.

The airport said it had experienced particularly strong performance on United States routes. Arrivals were up from the US by more than 21 per cent to more than 12,000.

The US is a priority market for New Zealand tourism authorities and the appreciation of the greenback against the Kiwi dollar is expected to further boost arrivals from the States.
However arrivals from another important market, Britain, fell by almost 10 per cent to 4600.

Auckland Airport owns nearly 25 per cent of Queenstown Airport where international passenger numbers were 38.9 higher in June (29,000) than in the same month a year earlier. This was driven by capacity growth on the Sydney and Gold Coast routes.

Queenstown set a new milestone in June 2015, with more than 1 million domestic passengers passing through the airport in a year.

IATA said the key driver of the faster growth in international air travel was acceleration within Europe.

In May, the market was up 5.1 per cent, almost double the rate of growth seen year-to-date, supported by gains in business confidence which confirm that the economic recovery is on track;

"Looking ahead, although adverse economic developments in some emerging markets continue to present downside risks for growth in international air travel, better conditions in advanced economies are likely to sustain the recent acceleration in passenger numbers," IATA said.

However, economic weakness in Asia from declines in trade activity could lead to deterioration in business related air travel for that region.
More than 3 billion seats a year are filled on passenger planes.