Chinese New year brings arrivals spike

Auckland International Airport said international passenger numbers through New Zealand’s busiest gateway rose 5.4 per cent last month, as the later timing of Chinese New Year led to a surge in travellers from China.

There were 726,529 international arrivals and departures in February, including transits, up from 689,063 a year earlier, the airport company said in its monthly traffic update. Domestic passenger numbers rose 3.3 per cent to 590,524.

Arrivals from China soared 85 per cent to 48,901, overtaking the UK as the third largest source, after Kiwis travelling across the border and Australians. The number of New Zealanders slipped 1.5 per cent to 112,928 and Australians fell 3.6 per cent to 65,017.

Visitors from the US rose 5.3 per cent to 26,121 while those from the UK fell 2.2 per cent to 24,642. Passengers from India also surged — up about 50 per cent to 5429, to be the ninth largest source of visitors.

Chinese New Year fell in February this year. The airport company said international aircraft movements rose 1.5 per cent to 3635 last month while domestic movements rose 2.2 per cent to 8501.

The airport’s 24.9 per cent-owned Queenstown Airport Corp had a 38 per cent increase in international passengers to 30,382 and a 5.1 per cent gain in domestic passengers to 92,357. Shares in Auckland Airport closed down xc yesterday at $x.xx. The stock is rated a “sell” based on the consensus of eight analysts surveyed by Reuters with a median price target of $4.09.

— BusinessDesk