Auckland Airport international passenger numbers rise 5.4% in February

Auckland International Airport [NZX: AIA] said international passenger numbers through New Zealand's busiest gateway rose 5.4% last month, as the later timing of Chinese New Year led to a surge in travellers from China.

There were 726,529 international arrivals and departures in February, including transits, up from 689,063 a year earlier, the airport company said in its monthly traffic update. Domestic passenger numbers rose 3.3% to 590,524.

Arrivals from China soared 85% to 48,901, overtaking the UK as the third-largest source after Kiwis travelling across the border and Australians. The number of New Zealanders slipped 1.5% to 112,928 and Australians fell 3.6% to 65,017. Visitors from the US rose 5.3% to 26,121 while those from the UK fell 2.2% to 24,642. Passengers from India also surged – up about 50% to 5,429, to be the ninth largest source of visitors.

Chinese New Year fell in February this year and January in 2014.

The airport company said international aircraft movements rose 1.5% to 3635 last month while domestic movements rose 2.2% to 8501.

The airport's 24.9% owned Queenstown Airport Corp had a 38% increase in international passengers to 30,382 and a 5.1% gain in domestic passengers to 92,357. Its quarter-owned North Queensland Airports Group reported a 9.7% drop in domestic passengers to 66,396 at Mackay airport, while at Cairns airport, international passengers rose 8.3% to 56,468 and domestic rose 8.6% to 293,285.

Shares of Auckland Airport fell 0.2% to $4.47 and have gained 16% in the past 12 months. The stock is rated a 'sell' based on the consensus of eight analysts surveyed by Reuters with a median price target of $4.09.

(BusinessDesk)

Jonathan Underhill
Mon, 23 Mar 2015

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Auckland Airport international passenger numbers rise 5.4% in February