More international flights through Auckland

The number of international aircraft movements through Auckland Airport increased in January from a year earlier, even as the number of international passengers slipped.

A strong rise in the number of passengers visiting for education or medical purposes was being attributed to a lower New Zealand dollar helping make this country more attractive to foreign students.

The airport said today that international aircraft movements rose by 162, or 4.7 per cent, to 3622 in January, while total international passengers fell by 0.9 per cent to 720,140.

Domestic aircraft movements dropped by 7.8 per cent to 9560, mainly due to decreased Qantas services and fewer smaller regional aircraft movements, the airport said.

The number of domestic passengers using Auckland Airport fell 7.5 per cent to 427,158.

The airport highlighted a 22.4 per cent rise, compared to a year earlier, in the number of passengers travelling for education or medical purposes in January to 9008.

"This has been attributed to the weaker NZ dollar assisting the attractiveness of New Zealand to foreign students," the airport said.

At the same time the number of arrivals from China was up 32.9 per cent to 13,672, with the airport saying the increase was due to Chinese New Year falling earlier this year than last year, when it was in February.

Passengers from Australia also helped, with a 6.2 per cent rise to 47,270, but numbers from Britain fell 8.4 per cent to 31,735, and from the United States were down 14.9 per cent to 15,567.

- NZPA