Auckland Airport released its May monthly traffic update which showed 8755 international passengers passed through Queenstown Airport in the month, 36.8% more than in May last year.
In the financial year to date, 224,739 passengers passed through the airport, 22.3% ahead of the previous corresponding period (pcp). And in the rolling 12-month total, 236,264 passengers passed through, a 23.5% increase on the pcp.
Domestic passengers in May were only slightly up at 59,611, but in the financial year to date, the 900,270 passengers were a 13.8% increase on the pcp. The 12-month rolling total of 960,658 passengers was a 15.1% increase on the pcp.
Yesterday, Mr Timms said there was some opposition to Auckland Airport taking a stake in Queenstown Airport but the resort should be pleased with the increased number of visitors bringing money into the resort.
The AIA figures showed China and Malaysia were the big movers for visitor numbers through Auckland Airport and Mr Timms believed the numbers inferred some of those visitors had also flown to Queenstown.
''There will be some increase with skiers coming to Queenstown from Australia, but it is an Asian growth story for Auckland Airport. The figures show that our traditional markets are not growing as fast as those from China and Malaysia,'' he said.
International passenger numbers, excluding transit passengers, at Auckland Airport were up 9.4% in May compared with May last year.
The strong international growth was driven by North America, with growth of 32.1%, followed by Asia, up 8.4%, and Australia, up 8.1%.
However, visitor arrivals from China were nearly 30% higher than in May last year. Chinese visitors to Auckland have nearly doubled in the past two years, from 8620 in May 2011 to 16,167 in May 2013.
The airport said in the period, there had been significant growth on direct services from China on China Southern and Air New Zealand, as well as increased dual destination Chinese visitors arriving from Australia - particularly on China Airlines' services from Brisbane and Sydney.
Visitor arrivals from India were up 12.9% in May, the fifth largest inbound market for the month. There were more visitor arrivals from India in May than the traditional markets of Japan and Korea, the airport said.
On the year-to-date figures, Malaysian visitor numbers grew by 27.8% and China arrivals grew by 27%. North American visitor numbers fell by 0.2%, United Kingdom numbers fell by 13.67% and Korean visitor numbers were down 9%. Japanese visitors rose nearly 16% in the year.
Despite the good figures, AIA shares were trading down yesterday at $2.87, a level not seen since mid-March.
