Auckland Airport says ‘excellent’ direct flight connectivity and airline seat capacity has been driven by growth in links with Australia and China.
During the southern summer, Australia made up 42% of seat capacity, up 5% on the previous year, followed by the US with 13% of capacity, flat on the previous year, and China 10% of capacity, up 12% on the previous year.
International AKL seat capacity overall is still around 7% below pre-pandemic levels, but New Zealand remains well connected to major Australian, North American and Chinese cities.
AKL chief executive officer Carrie Hurihanganui says the airport company is monitoring the fuel price spike closely.
In Mar and Apr, since conflict in the Middle East disrupted fuel supplies, airlines have trimmed international capacity, however seat availability remains 1% higher than in the same two months last year.
“As fuel costs have spiked, airlines have responded as expected. We have also lost some capacity with the reduction of Emirates services and the pause until Jun of the regular Qatar flights,” she says.
Airlines have trimmed some capacity and consolidated flights since early Mar, but most are using ticket prices and fuel surcharges to ride out the geopolitics. She says airlines remain optimistic about New Zealand’s appeal as a destination.
. . . Traveller Demand
Inbound AKL numbers for Mar and Apr were up 27% from China, year-on-year, up 8% from the US, and up 4% from Australia.
In those two months there were 1.77 million total international travellers at AKL, up 4% on 2025, and load factors rose 3% up 86%, reports the airport company.
Hurihanganui says 2.4 million overseas visitors came through the airport in the year to Mar, up 5% on the previous year.
The New Zealand inbound tourism sector’s big annual event, Trenz, is being held this week in Auckland.
