Auckland Airport passenger traffic bolstered by Asians

Auckland Airport passenger traffic bolstered by Asian visitors

By Hannah Lynch

Sept. 24 (BusinessDesk) - Auckland International Airport, which is targeting Asian tourists to stoke growth in the next decade, reported a 14.4 percent gain in arrivals from the region last month as Indonesia made the top ten for the first time, even as total international traffic fell.

Total international passenger numbers, stripping out transits, fell 0.6 percent to 563,243 in August from the same month a year earlier, the airport said in a statement. Chinese arrivals rose 21.3 percent to 13,862, while visitors from Indonesia jumped 36.4 percent to 1,682, the first time that nation has been among the top 10 sources of tourists.

"This was driven by targeted marketing campaigns including luxury website and social media activity attracting Indonesian visitors to Auckland as part of Auckland Airport’s Ambition 2020 initiative to focus on the growing market potential in Asia," the airport said.

Arrivals from Japan climbed 25.9 percent to 7,646. The country continues to recover after a "period of low visitor growth following the earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan."

Arrivals from the UK fell 25.6 percent to 6,503, while visitors from the US dropped 12.6 percent to 7,087.

There was strong domestic growth across the whole group with Queenstown Airport, of which Auckland Airport owns a quarter, rising 26.3 percent to 86,425. International passengers increased 9.8 percent to 36,573 for Queenstown.

Auckland Airport also has stakes in Australia’s Cairns and Mackay airports. Cairns reported a 6 percent increase to 320,443 in domestic passengers, while international passengers fell 10 percent to 70,147.

Mackay domestic passengers climbed 1.9 percent to 96,035.

Auckland Airport's total domestic passenger numbers fell 0.1 percent to 516,598 from the same month a year earlier.

Separately, the board reiterated its forecast net profit, excluding any fair value changes and other one-off items to be $143 million to $150 million in the year ended June 30, 2013. That's up from a $142.3 million a year earlier.

"We do note with some caution any potential long-term implications of the prevailing volatility in global economies," chairwoman Joan Withers said. "As always, this guidance is subject to any other material adverse events, significant one-off expenses, non-cash fair value changes to property and further deterioration due to the global market conditions or other unforeseeable circumstances."

Shares in Auckland Airport last traded at $2.65 and have gained about 5 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)

© Scoop Media