Hawke's Bay Airport passenger numbers growing

Increasing passenger numbers at Hawke's Bay Airport are expected to level off in the next couple of years. Photo / File

Passenger numbers are up and profit is above budget according to the latest Hawke's Bay Airport (HBAL) financial results presented to the Hastings District Council last week.

HBAL was a joint venture between the Crown (50 per cent), Napier City Council (26 per cent) and Hastings District Council (24 per cent) and the company informed the Hastings council of its half-year result for the six months ended December 31, 2017, last Thursday.

Board chairman Tony Porter said 354,565 passengers went through the airport in the half-year, an 8.6 per cent increase on the same period last year, and more than 19,000 above the budgeted amount for the period.

Total revenue was $3.37 million, 10.3 per cent ahead of the same period the year before, and after-tax profit was $933,430, above budget of $659,000 but below last year's half-year result of $990,000.

Mr Porter said the primary drivers of the revenue growth were airside revenue (6.1 per cent) due to more scheduled landings, and an increase in carparking revenue - due to passenger growth and the impact of a pricing increase introduced in November 2016.

Profit after tax was 41.6 per cent above budget due to interest cost savings accrued because of the delay of the terminal redevelopment project.

The total expenditure for the half-year was 36.7 per cent ahead of the same period last year, resulting from the increased cost of the airport's rescue fire service due to the service requirements required by the company and the Civil Aviation Authority, he said.

In December last year, HBAL confirmed Arrow International would be the main contractor to redevelop the terminal building and work was due to begin this month to be completed in November next year.

"Following consultation with both the airport's tenants and the main contractor a revised staging plan has been developed - the objectives being to minimise the operational disruption, preserve customer experience and offer savings to the project," Mr Porter said.

The project will see check-in areas installed at the southern end of the terminal and a new automated baggage handling system at the opposite end.

There will also be a dedicated arrivals gate instead of the current departures and arrivals from the same gate.

New facilities will include a cafe, and offices for Air New Zealand, Jetstar and Sounds Air airlines.

In the meantime a new airport link road connected to State Highway 2 is scheduled to be finished in August this year.

HBAL is designing additional works to integrate the link road to the existing internal roads at the airport, construction scheduled to start in the second half of this year.

Looking ahead, Mr Porter said that while passenger growth had been growing beyond the long-term average, this was expected to slow in the full 2019 and 2020 years.