Travel statistics boost for AIA

Auckland International Airport shares rebounded yesterday after the release of the company's monthly traffic statistics which showed an impressive increase in international travel.

The company's shares traded between $3.98 and $4.07 on Monday, falling to as low as $3.84 on Tuesday before rising back to $3.97 yesterday.

On Tuesday, the Government announced flights between New Zealand and China were set to double under amended air services arrangements.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges said airlines from both countries would be able to offer 42 services per week, per country.

That was up from the previous limit of 21 per week.

So far this year, 252,000 Chinese visitors have arrived in New Zealand by air compared to 108,000 in 2009.

With increased air services, forecasts indicated 509,000 Chinese people would visit New Zealand by air each year by 2020, Mr Bridges said.

Auckland Airport's traffic figures showed Chinese visitor arrivals were up 45.1% in October 2014 compared to October last year.

China Southern Airlines increased seat capacity by 41% due to its Dreamliner service to Guangzhou increasing from 10 services per week to twice daily from October 27.

Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said strong demand had also prompted China Southern to increase capacity on its night flight by introducing a new 777-300ER from the middle of next month, adding an additional 17,000 seats to the route.

Queenstown Airport, in which Auckland Airport has a stake, performed well in October with international passengers up 21.7% on October last year.

The growth was driven by 24 more international flights. Queenstown domestic passenger volumes were up 7.9% on the same month last year.

Mr Timms said the traffic statistics were good news for both the airport company and Queenstown.

While the top 10 arrivals by country remained the same with New Zealand, Australia, China, the United States and the United Kingdom ranked in the top five, the growth was coming from Asian markets.

Chinese annual arrivals were up 4.5%, India was up 24.7% and Korea was up 5.8%.

Other top performers were Germany where the annual increase was nearly 25% and the United States on 11.5%.

The influx from Asia was likely to benefit Queenstown in general as Auckland Airport made an effort to get visitors to the resort town, Mr Timms said.

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