March 2023 Monthly traffic update_April 2023 Preview

March 2023 Monthly traffic Update and April 2023 Monthly traffic Preview

81% of pre-COVID equivalent. In March 2023, total passenger volumes at Auckland Airport were 81% of the March 2019 pre-COVID equivalent in the last full financial year not impacted by the COVID pandemic. International passengers (excl. transits) were 76% of March 2019, with transit and domestic passengers at 58% and 88% respectively.

Key Points:

• Passenger recovery during March 2023 increased from the prior month to 81% with 1.51m passengers traveling, volumes not seen since February 2020;

• International passenger recovery improved by 5ppts from the prior month to 76%, with short-haul international routes recovering to 85% and long-haul international routes reaching 65% compared to March 2019. Asia routes recovered to 56%, a 10ppt improvement on prior month, partially driven by three airlines operating to and from mainland China helping the China route to recover to 30% of March 2019;

• Capacity on the North American route will decrease from the end of March 2023 for the New Zealand winter months as American Airlines and Air Canada end their seasonal services and United Airlines operates a reduced schedule. Capacity will return at the end of October 2023 when seasonal schedules resume. North American routes performed well over the Northern Winter 22 / 23 season, with passenger volumes recovering to 93% driven by load factor improvements of 6ppts;

• Domestic passenger recovery during March 2023 increased to 88% with 779k domestic passengers traveling. Only one month since the start of the pandemic had a higher recovery percentage, July 2021, at 90%. The last month with higher passenger volume was December 2019; and

• Queenstown airport international passenger numbers were 113% of March 2019, and domestic 94% of March 2019.

April 2023 Monthly traffic Preview

80% of pre-COVID equivalent. In April 2023, total passenger volumes at Auckland Airport were 80% of the April 2019 pre-COVID equivalent in the last full financial year not impacted by the COVID pandemic. International passengers (excl. transits) were 79% of April 2019, with transit and domestic passengers at 71% and 82% respectively.

Key Points:

• Total passenger numbers declined in April 2023 to 1.4m or 80% of the pre-COVID equivalent, down on the 1.5m passengers seen in March 2023;

• The international passenger recovery improved for the 15th consecutive month to 79% of April 2019, a 3ppts improvement on the prior month;

• School and Easter holiday demand resulted in strong passenger demand on the Pacific Island routes, recovering to 94% during April 2023 with 101k passengers traveling. Fiji was the most popular island destination with 42k passengers representing a 106% recovery, followed by the Cook Islands with 20k passengers and an 88% recovery. Australian flights were also highly sought after during the holiday period with 333k passengers traveling during the month representing a 83% recovery;

• Long-haul routes experienced another spike in recovery, improving 6ppts to 71%. The main driver in performance was the increase in direct mainland China capacity, improving to 58% of April 2019 compared to 36% for the month prior;

• Domestic recovery fell during April to 82% from 88% in the prior month.

• Queenstown airport international passenger numbers were 121% of April 2019, and domestic 92% of April 2019.

Please see attached PDF for full report.

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Announcement PDF