Air New Zealand is investing in new Q300 50-seaters for some of its domestic routes. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today
Passenger numbers were up and flights were down last month at Auckland International airport, with more people flying on fewer but bigger planes.
International arrivals were up 2.9 per cent compared with February last year at 284,040, with total international passenger volume up 3.6 per cent at 534,871
and domestic passengers up 2.4 per cent at 422,915. But despite the increased passenger numbers, international and domestic flights were down by 3.2 per cent and 5.4 per cent respectively.
Chief financial officer Robert Sinclair said there had been some upgrading in the size of aircraft, particularly on domestic routes.
Air New Zealand was replacing some aircraft with the new Q300 50-seat plane, he said. "So you're seeing lesser numbers of larger planes."
The drop in domestic aircraft movements was attributed mostly to the end of services by Origin Pacific.
"Obviously over time you'd expect growth in passenger numbers to result in growth in aircraft movements as well," Sinclair said.
"Those two things typically over the long term follow the same trend."
Air New Zealand said last week the load factors - how full planes are - on Tasman and Pacific routes were up by nearly 9.4 per cent in February to 77.4 per cent compared with last year.
"I think it is a good sign," Sinclair said. "It certainly means from their perspective that those routes are more profitable than they would be with lower load factors."
International passenger volume to date was up by 1.3 per cent for the financial year ending June 30.
New Zealand arrivals were down 2.4 per cent at 93,804, with Australia, UK and US all up at 43,043, 36,907 and 22,958 respectively. Chinese arrivals grew by 72.8 per cent in February which, Sinclair said, showed the success of the Shanghai service.
