For the full FY26, the airport is forecasting about 1.06m international passenger arrivals and departures, up from 944,225 in FY25, while the current forecast for total passenger movements for the year is 2.8m, up from 2.6m last financial year.
That was up slightly from January, when chief executive Shane O’Hare said the airport had forecast about 2.75m passenger movements for the financial year, and had not expected to hit the three million mark until ‘‘the end of [this] decade’’.
Mr O’Hare said the Southern Lakes was increasingly popular with Australians, four airlines connecting Queenstown to Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Air New Zealand and Jetstar have also each added a new direct route between Queenstown and Brisbane this winter.
Destination Queenstown and Lake Wānaka Tourism chief executive Mat Woods said Australians were the region’s most important and largest international winter visitor market, although there had also been an increase in Chinese visitors to the region.
