The airport's revenue was down 6.4 per cent to $12.7m as total passenger numbers tumbled by more than a quarter to 495,000.
Earnings before Interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down 30 per cent to $6.3m at the airport owned by Queenstown Lakes District Council (75.01 per cent) and Auckland International Airport Limited (24.99 per cent).
Queenstown Airport Corporation chairwoman Adrienne Young-Cooper said nationwide and regional lockdowns and movement restrictions were in place for more than half of the six-month reporting period, resulting in significantly reduced passenger and aircraft movements.
"There were no flights between Auckland and Queenstown, usually our busiest route, for 178 days creating an extremely challenging business environment," Young-Cooper said.
Auckland suffered a prolonged lockdown after the August border failure at a time when the Government's delayed vaccine rollout had reached just 20 per cent of the eligible population.
Young-Cooper said domestic passenger arrivals and departures decreased by 30 per cent to 482,005. The transtasman bubble was open for a short period from April 2021 to July 2021. In July there were 12,960 international passenger movements and none for the remainder of the year.
Total operating expenditure increased from $4.5m to $6.4m compared with the corresponding period in 2020.
Young-Cooper said operating expenditure continues to be well below pre-Covid-19 levels. In the first phase of its response, operating expenditure was significantly reduced.
"All non-essential expenditure was paused, and the company's employee remuneration costs decreased as a result of a reduction in employee numbers and the employees' salary sacrifice contribution.
"The increase in total expenses in the reporting period compared to the previous year can be attributed to the resumption of some operating expenditure necessary to ensure organisational resilience and preparedness for recovery, including a 10 per cent increase in our workforce.
"In acknowledgement of the contribution that the salary cuts taken by employees made to the stabilisation of the business during the first phase of our Covid-19 response, the board of directors approved a partial repayment of the amounts sacrificed. These repayments were made during the reporting period. No employee incentives or bonuses have been paid for the last two years," she said.
Chief executive Glen Sowry said the emergence of the new Omicron meant
businesses operating at both Queenstown and Wānaka airports have been severely impacted.
"Providing support to the operators at the airports has been an integral part of our response.''
In 2020 it implemented a broad support programme, including rent relief. To date 68 tenants have received support, valued at $9.85m, and $2.6m for the reporting period. All businesses at Queenstown Airport are continuing to operate.
Construction on the $8m Queenstown Airport terminal upgrade programme, which is significantly expanding the departure screening area, continued throughout the reporting period and is due to be completed in April 2022.
"The operating environment continues to be challenging, and the pace and timing of recovery is dependent on a wide range of factors. We are confident that Queenstown Airport is well positioned to serve the needs of the community and to support the recovery of the local economy with excellent domestic and transtasman links.''
During the reporting period there were 2000 scheduled international and domestic aircraft movements, down 32 per cent over the same period last year. Domestic aircraft movements were down 35 per cent to 1933 while international aircraft movements were up from 0 to 67.
Other affected aviation businesses, Auckland Airport and Air New Zealand, will report their interim results tomorrow.
