Passenger numbers on long-haul flights were up nearly 19% compared with those in March last year.
In an investor update, the company said revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) were 14.1% higher on a capacity increase of 10.1%.
Group load factor was up 3.1%.
Short-haul passengers were up 7.2%, while in the domestic market demand and capacity increased by 7.5% and 6.2% respectively.
Domestic load was 84%, up 1%.
Tasman-Pacific demand increased 10.6% while capacity increased 3.4%.
Long-haul passenger numbers increased 18.9% when compared with those in March last year.
Demand was up 18.2% and capacity up 15.2%.
Air NZ announced yesterday it would fly a Dreamliner to Fiji from Auckland this summer.
It would use the Boeing 787-9 on the Nadi route from November to March, adding 8000 more seats than last year.
The Dreamliner would initially operate two new services per week, building to five during the peak mid-December to late January period.
There would also be an extra weekly Airbus A320 service added to the summer schedule to meet passenger demand.
It would be the first time its Dreamliner had operated in the Pacific Islands.
Air New Zealand chief sales and commercial officer Cam Wallace said Fiji continued to be a hugely popular destination for Kiwis and the number travelling there had grown steadily during the past three years.
The Dreamliner services would initially operate on Saturdays and Sundays, extending to Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays during the peak.
The additional A320 service would operate on Sundays.
The Dreamliner, which offered big fuel savings, had been in the airline's fleet since the middle of last year.
The extra capacity was part of sharp growth in Air New Zealand operations on domestic routes and on long-haul services.
At the end of the year, Air New Zealand starts flying directly to Buenos Aires, in Argentina, and Houston, Texas.
Air NZ chief executive Christopher Luxon said the airline would increase its total domestic capacity by more than 650,000 seats in the coming year.
