KEY POINTS:
There were more people moving through Auckland's airport in January than a year ago but fewer aircraft.
International aircraft movements decreased by 1.4 per cent from a year ago and domestic aircraft movements decreased by 4.4 per cent, Auckland International Airport said in a statement.
The listed airport operator put the decline in domestic aircraft movements down to the closure of Origin Pacific airline.
But the numbers were all upward in the area of passenger volumes. International passenger volumes in January were up 2.3 per cent on the same month last year. The number departing increased 3.4 per cent, while the number arriving rose 1.3 per cent.
Domestic passenger volumes were up 2.2 per cent.
A breakdown of the international statistics showed that the number of visitors from the United Kingdom were up 5.1 per cent, which offset small declines in arrivals from Australia (down 0.8 per cent) and the USA (down 0.1 per cent).
There was continued strong growth from some of the emerging markets, in particular China, up 12.9 per cent. Air New Zealand opened a new route from Auckland to Shanghai in November.
For the year to date, total international passengers, excluding transits and transfers, rose 1 per cent over the same period last year.
- NZPA
