NEW ZEALAND. International passenger volumes continued to grow at Auckland International Airport in January, following increases every month since September 2006.
International traffic (excluding transits and transfers) was +2.3% greater than the same month last year at 625,158 compared to 611,247. In 2006 overall international traffic grew by just +0.7.
International visitor departures rose +3.4% for the month, while arrivals were up by +1.3%. There was solid growth in arrivals from China (+12.9%) and the UK (+5.1%), but Japan registered a drop in arrivals of -18.9%, continuing the general decline seen over recent months. Japanese travellers are now outnumbered by Chinese arrivals.
Arrivals by New Zealanders saw solid growth of +4.8% over January 2006, but the South Korean market grew by only +2.1%. The small but growing Canadian market (up +6.4% to 5,702 arrivals) was offset by a small decline in US arrivals (down -0.1% to 17,595). Arrivals from Australia were also down, by -0.8%.
MORE ABOUT AUCKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Auckland’s first-half retail income rises by +8.3% despite low passenger growth – 22/02/07
Chinese numbers increase as Japanese decline continues at Auckland International Airport – 14/02/07
Japanese and Chinese boost November passenger traffic at Auckland – 21/12/06