Auckland traffic good news for Hamilton airport

Increased seats and cheaper fares are attracting people to Hamilton airport. Picture / Christine Cornege

Bosses' health and safety concerns about the length of the working day for staff negotiating Auckland's traffic snarls are helping boost business at Hamilton airport.

Passenger numbers for Hamilton airport's main routes, Wellington, Christchurch and Palmerston North, last year were up 13 per cent on 2016, with close to 335,000 travellers through the gates.

January numbers were nearly 20 per cent ahead of the same month last year.

Waikato Regional Airport chief executive Mark Morgan believes Auckland traffic congestion is contributing to the increase in people choosing to use Hamilton airport.

He said he's aware of companies and organisations having concerns about the health and safety of staff who have to leave home hours ahead of their Auckland flights because of unpredictable traffic, then hitting congestion on the way home, making a long day even longer.

Morgan believed Auckland's traffic issue was also influencing the airport choice of leisure travellers.

Increased seats and cheaper fares are also attracting people to Hamilton airport, he said.

Available seats have lifted 12 per cent since Air New Zealand replaced 19-seater Beech aircraft last year with 68 and 50-seater planes.

The Waikato Regional Airport company is owned by five Waikato councils and has two subsidiaries, Waikato Tourism and Titanium Park, an emerging business park and property development company.

The airport group recently bought the Hamilton Airport Hotel and conference centre.