OUTLOOK - Grow Wellington

6.2 Wellington International AirportPassenger servicesTable 6.2 shows the numbers of passengers passing throughWellington International Airport from 2006 to 2008, comparedto Auckland Airport.The big news for air travel in New Zealand was the introductionof Pacific Blue into the domestic market from November 2007.The results are already being seen, with lower fares encouragingstrong increases in domestic travel. The number of domesticpassengers passing through Wellington International Airportrose 7.3% year-on-year in the February 2008 year. The numberfor the March or April year is expected to be even higheras the full impact of more capacity and lower fares takes effect.After a sluggish year to February 2007, international passengerfigures recovered well in the latest year, up 4.9%.Growth in international passenger numbers in the Wellingtonregion has mirrored that seen in Auckland over the last two years.Figure 6.1 shows recent trends in passenger numbers passingthrough Wellington International Airport.The impact of the entry of Pacific Blue into the domestic market isclear from the near-vertical increase in domestic passenger numbersfrom November 2007. Domestic passenger numbers for theFebruary 2008 year are up 280,000 on the November 2007 year,and can be expected to rise even more over the next few months.International passenger numbers have recovered from a lowof around 553,000 in August 2006, to just under 600,000in the February 2008 year.21Table 6.2 Airport passenger numbers, 2006 to 2008Year ending% pa changeFeb 06 Feb 07 Feb 08 Feb 06 - Feb 07 Feb 07 - Feb 08 Feb 06 - Feb 08Wellington International Airport ('000)International 572 571 599 -0.3% 4.9% 2.3%Domestic 3,987 4,050 4,346 1.6% 7.3% 4.4%Auckland Airport ('000)International 6,201 6,271 6,521 1.1% 4.0% 2.5%Domestic 4,922 5,030 5,435 2.2% 8.0% 5.1%Source: Infratil, Auckland AirportFigure 6.1 Wellington INTERNATIONAL airport annual passenger numbers, 1998 to 20084,500650DOMESTIC PASSENGERSINTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS4,000550DOMESTIC PASSENGERS (’000)3,500450INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS (’000)3,0003502,500250MAR 98 MAR 00 MAR 02 MAR 04 MAR 06 MAR 08