Air NZ passenger numbers rise 11pc

File photo / NZ Herald

Air New Zealand carried 1.05 million passengers in November, up 11 per cent on the same month last year, but group-wide yields rose by 4.1 per cent.

The airline said there was good demand for its new "seats to suit" product on Tasman and Pacific routes. Revenue per passenger kilometres rose 13.3 per cent, which drove a 3.4 percentage point increase in load factor to 83.3 per cent. But short-haul yields were down 1.3 per cent, partly due to "seats to suit".

Long-haul yields were up by 9.8 per cent. Removing the impact of foreign exchange, group-wide yields were up 6.9 per cent. The airline increased capacity by 3.9 per cent in November from a year ago and revenue per passenger kilometres rose 6.5 per cent. Overall, the group load factor increased by two percentage points. Demand increased in the domestic market by 12.9 per cent on last year.

- NZPA