Surge in Aussie tourists lifts airport arrivals

International arrivals at Auckland Airport were up 9.9 per cent in April from a year earlier, due to the timing of Easter and coinciding with a spike in visitors from Australia.

The airport said it had 253,155 international arrivals last month, while international departures were up just 0.6 per cent to 290,088, and transits and transfers were down 8 per cent to 64,900.

The rise in international arrivals was mainly because of the positive impact of Easter falling in April this year, compared with March last year, the airport said.

Arrivals from Australia were up 23.1 per cent in April from a year earlier to 55,323, reflecting an increased emphasis on tourism from that market and enhanced services.

From April 28 Jetstar also started transtasman services from Auckland, with two scheduled flights each day creating another 258,000 seats between Australia and Auckland each year.

Domestic aircraft movements dropped 5.5 per cent to 9567 in April from a year earlier.

That indicated the continued impact of reduced Qantas domestic services from December, the airport said.

Total domestic passenger numbers fell 6.3 per cent to 479, 257.

- NZPA