Crowds at Auckland Airport as travelers head away for Christmas 2024. Photo: RNZ / Emma Stanford
A rebound in passenger numbers has lifted the half year profit of Auckland International Airport, but it has warned of a slowdown in the recovery.
Key numbers for the six months ended December compared with a year ago:
- Net profit $118.7m vs $4.8m
- Revenue $440.5m vs $287.8m
- Passengers 9.3m vs 7.6m
- Interim dividend 6.75 cents per share vs Nil
Chair Patrick Strange said the lift in global demand for travel and return of international airlines were key drivers of the result.
"North America has been a particular highlight, where more people are now travelling to and from Auckland than ever before."
"While the outlook continues to remain positive, we may see the rate of growth slow over the second half of the financial year as the local aviation industry faces into economic headwinds."
Passenger traffic increased 22 percent, with domestic numbers up 4 percent to 4.3m, and international travellers up 43 percent to 5 million.
The revival of passengers and flights resulted in increased revenue from aeronautical services, retail and parking, while its extensive commercial property, worth around $3 billion, earned $72.5m.
Chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui said Auckland had seven airlines flying direct to the US, and five airlines connecting to China, which were driving international growth, with noticeable demand also from India and the Philippines.
She said the company had worked to alleviate long delays in passengers with a 20 percent improvement in processing times.
"We are going to keep working at it to continue to improve the experience for travellers. It's why the upgrade of Auckland Airport's infrastructure is so important. We want a better experience for travellers across the system and that's what our investment will deliver."
The long running dispute between the airport and airlines flared up on Wednesday with Air New Zealand looking to involve the government to curb the airport's plans for a multi-billion spend on facilities, which will lift charges on air passengers and airlines.
Hurihanganui said the airport was looking at spending $1.1b to $1.4b of capital projects in the coming year to upgrade facilities for passengers and planes.
The company forecast underlying earnings between $260m-$280m on expectations of passenger numbers of around 19m for the year.