Auckland Airport announces Monthly Traffic update & February 2022 Preview

Wednesday 16th March 2022

January 2022 Monthly traffic update.

-1.2%. Auckland Airport total passenger volumes decreased by 1.2% in January 2022 versus January 2021 and were down 73% compared to the pre-COVID equivalent in January 2019. Compared to January 2021, international passengers (excl. transits) were up 43.6%, transit passengers were down 34.7% and domestic passengers were down by 3.3%.

Key Points:

• Quarantine free travel to Cook Islands commenced 14 January 2022 and is proving popular with outbound passenger demand at 92% versus January 2019.

• Excluding Cook Islands demand, international passengers versus January 2021 (excl. transits) increased 20.5% driven by the outbound direction increasing by 33.8%, compared to 5.7% on the inbound direction.

• Holiday demand (1 January to 23 January 2022) on the domestic network was in line with prior year, decreasing 0.2%. The remainder of the month experienced year on year weakness with passenger numbers reducing by 11.3%. Demand to Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and Wellington declined by 12% versus January 2021. Passengers on the remaining domestic routes increased by 7% with 4,503 additional passengers travelling to and from Queenstown this year compared to last year.

February 2022 Monthly traffic preview.

-19.9%. Auckland Airport total passenger volumes decreased by 19.9% in February 2022 versus February 2021 and were down 78.8% compared to the pre-COVID equivalent in February 2019. Compared to February 2021, international passengers (excl. transits) were up 56.4%, transit passengers were up 94.6% and domestic passengers were down by 24.8%.

Key Points:

• On 28 February 2022 the New Zealand Government announced the removal of home isolation requirements for all fully vaccinated inbound international passengers from 2 March 2022, but at first with only New Zealanders and permanent residents permitted entry. The Government has since signalled the possibility of allowing tourists from other countries into New Zealand earlier than current plan of July 2022 (visitors from visa waiver countries) and October 2022 (visitors requiring a visa).

• There were an additional 14,159 international passengers in February 2022 compared to February 2021. Half of these additional international passengers are attributable to travel to and from the Cook Islands, taking advantage of the quarantine free arrangement. The remainder of the increase is attributable to another strong month of outbound international travel which increased by 59.1% compared to year prior.

• Transit passenger growth reflected mainly China to Australia passenger flows. Australia opened its border to students and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) but with limited direct capacity between the China and Australia, passengers chose to travel indirectly via Auckland.

• Domestic demand was highest at the start of the month but gradually deteriorated when Omicron infections ramped up in the community. Overall domestic passenger numbers fell 24.8% versus February 2021.

Please see attached pdf for full report

January 2022 Monthly Traffic update and February 2022 Preview

Comments from our readers

No comments yet