Demand improvements on Air New Zealand's Tasman, Pacific and long-haul routes helped offset a drop in demand on the domestic network, the national carrier said yesterday.
The airline carried 975,000 passengers during August, 2.9% fewer than the previous corresponding period. Revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 4.2% on a capacity increase of 4.6%. Group loading was 81.6%, down slightly on the previous period.
Short-haul passenger numbers fell 3.8% on the previous period, primarily due to fewer passengers on the domestic network.
RPK demand fell in the domestic market, also by 3.8%.
"The reduction is attributable to a stronger than normal August 2011 result as many customers sought to complete travel commitments prior to the Rugby World Cup," the airline said.
Tasman-Pacific RPK demand increased 6.4% with capacity increasing 9.9%. Loadings fell nearly 3% to 81.2% in the period.
The result was driven mostly by higher capacity on several routes, notably the introduction of flights to Bali and an extension of the Honolulu and Perth services.
Long-haul passenger numbers increased 4.2% on the previous period with growth in capacity of 3.2% and demand of 5.2%. Loads increased 1.6% to 82.6%.
The long-haul result was underpinned by traffic increases on Pacific Rim routes, particularly North America. August was the first month that pre-earthquake traffic levels returned to Japan routes, Air NZ said.
Group-wide yields for the financial year to date were down 1.2% on the same period last year.
Compared to August 2011, year-to-date short-haul yields were down 4% but long-haul yields were up 3.4%.
