Airport defies world trends with profit increase

By CHRIS DANIELS aviation writer

Profit at Auckland International Airport is up again, seemingly regardless of the state of world aviation.

The company's annual financial results, published yesterday, show its after-tax profit up nearly 17 per cent at $83.5 million, a percentage rise matched almost exactly by its revenue jump, up to $234.7 million.

Plane movements and passenger numbers were up on the year before.

The airport handled more than nine million passengers - 5.3 million international and 4.05 million domestic, an increase of just over 7 per cent on last year.
New chief executive Don Huse, who took over from John Goulter in July, said the outlook for the year ahead was good.

International seat capacity would increase 36 per cent over the summer.

This would come from an increase in services provided by existing operators, plus the arrival of Asiana and Royal Brunei airlines to the airport.

Huse said two more airlines had "indicated their intention" to start using the airport from October.

One of these is likely to be Virgin Blue, which has applied for "slots" at the airport.

Chairman Wayne Boyle said the company had again illustrated its resilience to adverse international events, including the Sars virus, the Bali bombing and the war in Iraq.

More than $17 million of new revenue came from the re-tendering of big retail concessions.

Revenue from the airfield side of the business dropped slightly, to 24.3 per cent of total, and the retail side of the business accounted for 33.1 per cent, up from 28.8 per cent.

Boyd said the airport's "considerable land bank" was also in demand for developments, and a number of projects were under negotiation.