Japan numbers down, says Air NZ

Photo / Paul Estcourt

Air New Zealand said the Christchurch earthquake in late February, combined with the Japan earthquake in March, significantly affected passenger numbers on its Japan route.

The airline said in its March operating update that demand decreased by 15.2 per cent on its Asia, Japan and United Kingdom routes.

Capacity decreased by 7.5 per cent and the load factor decreased by 7 percentage points to 77.6 per cent.

Excluding Japan, capacity remained the same on Asia and UK routes.