More passengers using airport
More people are flying in and out of Hamilton Airport and it’s predicted to be an ongoing trend.
There was a 13 per cent increase in passenger numbers across the core routes to and from Wellington, Christchurch and Palmerston North last year, amounting to around 335,000 travellers.
Morning ‘peak hour’ flights are often filled to capacity. That is an issue nationwide, but Hamilton Airport is having conversations with Air New Zealand regarding feedback from locals about their ability to get on those flights.
Waikato Regional Airport Limited chief executive Mark Morgan said the increase was thanks to increased capacity and lower fares on Hamilton flights, but also increasing trouble .
‘‘Plenty of people tell us they aren’t prepared to deal with the unpredictability of Auckland traffic,’’ Morgan said.
‘‘When you’re leaving ridiculously early just to make a flight, and then hit bad traffic on the way home, it makes a long day even longer.
‘‘It’s a lot easier and faster to fly in and out of Hamilton and increasingly, more people are choosing to do that.’’
He said increased seating capacity in larger planes has helped with the growth in passen- ger numbers.
The availability of seats to and from Hamilton has increased by 12 per cent, due to Air New Zealand phasing out its 19-seater Beech aircraft last August.
Those were replaced with Aerospatiale ATR72 (68-seater) and Bombardier Q300 (50-seater) planes. As there are more seats to be filled on those aircraft, there is more tendency for the prices to be reduced to stimulate further demand.
‘‘As a result, we’ve seen some very competitive prices and locals have been making the most of those low fares,’’ Morgan said.
‘‘We’ve seen fares as low as $19 to key destinations from Air New Zealand’s Grabaseat and, on top of avoiding Auckland traffic, that’s a pretty good incentive to fly in and out of Hamilton.’’
He said when you think of drive time, parking charges and convenience, Hamilton Airport was an increasingly good and affordable option over Auckland Domestic Airport for Waikato travellers.
‘‘We’re also seeing very steady growth in tourism and in commercial guest nights so we believe the future in terms of passenger numbers is looking positive.’’