Air NZ passenger numbers rise

Photo / Supplied

Air New Zealand's long-haul passenger numbers rose 4.4 per cent in April and the airline announced plans to increase capacity between Queenstown and Australian cities by 8 per cent this ski-season.

The airline carried 1.02 million passengers in April, up 1.8 per cent from a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Long-haul passengers increased to 113,000 from 108,000, while domestic traffic crept up 0.6 per cent to 680,000.

Passengers carried on Asia, Japan and the UK routes increased by 16.9 per cent to 48,000 last month, followed by Australia and the Pacific, up 4 per cent to 230,000.

Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia are teaming up to increase the number of flights between Australia and Queenstown by 8 per cent for the 2012 ski season. The new services will see a 13 per cent rise in seats from Melbourne, 10 per cent increase from Sydney and 3 per cent rise from Brisbane.

The airline is also increasing its domestic capacity to Queenstown, with over 300 extra seats now available from Wellington and 650 extra seats from Auckland.

Auckland-based Air New Zealand has also signaled plans to increase the capacity on its Auckland-Perth route by more than 20 per cent this year. In September the airline will replace its 234-seat Boeing 767-300s with 304 seat Boeing 777-200ER aircraft on its non-stop Auckland-to-Perth service.

From October the airline will also add a third weekly flight on its Auckland-to-Honolulu route, increasing the total number of seats available on the route by 50 per cent.

This is all part of the airline's aim for a $110 million profit improvement from its long-haul services by 2015, which are now an underperforming part of the company. The airline's first-half profit sank 61 per cent to $38 million on higher fuel costs and fewer international passengers.

Shares in the airline are currently trading at 91 cents.