International passenger numbers grow at Christchurch Airport

International passenger numbers grow at Christchurch Airport

New statistics show a 15 per cent increase in international passenger numbers at Christchurch Airport over the past month.

International passenger numbers into Christchurch grew at twice last month’s national growth of 7.6 per cent, including growth across all the key regions of Australia, Asia, North America and Europe.

The airport’s Chief Commercial Officer Aeronautical says the data from Statistics New Zealand reveals excellent growth into Christchurch during the important peak season.

Justin Watson says the South Island’s most important market, Australia, saw numbers grow almost 10 per cent in February. Mr Watson says that was driven in part by the successful South Island road trip campaign, jointly run with all the regions of the South Island, which encouraged Australians to come and journey around the South Island.

“Buoyed by Chinese New Year and the charter flights by China Southern Airlines, Chinese visitors became our second largest source of international visitor arrivals, with 6841 representing a 169 % increase over the same period last year,” he says.

“When we consider the number of Taiwanese visitors, we saw a five-fold increase (484%), thanks to the new seasonal service China Airlines operated here out of Taipei.

“All in all, an extra 95,000 international passengers came through Christchurch Airport in the past twelve months, which is great news for Christchurch, Canterbury and the whole South Island. We’re pleased to welcome such strong growth in international visitor arrivals to the South Island.”

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