Air NZ passenger numbers rise almost 10pc

Photo / Paul Estcourt

Air New Zealand reported an increase of almost 10 per cent in passenger numbers in October, as the airline increased capacity amid signs that demand is returning to pre-global financial crisis levels.

The airline carried a total 1,017,000 passengers in October, up 9.2 per cent compared to the same month of 2009, the company said in a statement.

Revenue passenger kilometres rose 6.1 per cent, capacity rose 2.4 per cent, and group load factors increased by 2.9 per cent percentage points.

On a month-on-month basis, passenger volumes declined by 20 per cent from 1,272,000 in September.

This comes as short-term overseas visitor arrivals declined by 1 per cent in October, which fell to 184,900 compared to the same month in the previous year, according to Statistics New Zealand, as the strong New Zealand dollar saw tourists look for more affordable destinations.

Short haul passenger numbers rose 10.2 per cent on October last year, with revenue passenger kilometres in up by 12.6 per cent on last year.

Domestic load factor rose by 6.6 percentage points to 83.4 per cent on a capacity increase of 3.6 per cent.

Tasman- Pacific demand in October rose 8.1 per cent on the previous year after capacity was increased by 0.6 per cent, while the monthly load factor increased 6.1 percentage points to 87.3 per cent.

Long Haul passenger numbers were 2.5 per cent higher than October last year, with North America/U.K. up 5.4 per cent on a capacity increase of 7.3 per cent, while load factor fell 1.4 percentage points to 80.3 per cent.

Demand rose 0.8 per cent on Asia-Japan-UK routes where capacity fell by 3.2 per cent and load factor rose by 3.2 percentage points to 81.5 per cent.

Group-wide yields for the financial year to date were up 4.3 per cent on the same period last year. Short haul yields fell 1.4 per cent, as the airline continued to lower fares which stimulated demand, while long haul yields rose 10.9 per cent.

Shares were unchanged at $1.32, and have appreciated 2.8 per cent in value so far this year.