Auckland Airport yesterday released its May monthly traffic report which showed international passenger volumes at Queenstown Airport increased 46% in May from the previous corresponding period (pcp).
The rise was underpinned by a 44% increase in transtasman capacity.
Domestic passenger volumes increased 10.2% with growth on all domestic routes, including Auckland services, which were up 11%.
The report showed there were 18,156 international passenger movements through Queenstown in May, up from 12,358 in May last year.
In the financial year to date, nearly 369,000 international passengers had moved through the airport, up 28.3% on the pcp.
Domestic passengers in May totalled nearly 65,300 and on the financial year to date were up 6.5% to 940,378.
There were 146 international aircraft movements through Queenstown in May, up 46%. In the financial year to date there were 2907 international aircraft movements, up 29.3%.
Auckland Airport owns a share of Queenstown Airport.
International passengers, excluding transit passengers, at Auckland Airport were up 4% in May to 642,432. Passenger growth occurred across all regions, with particularly strong performances on North American routes.
Growth in international passenger numbers was underpinned by a combination of increased capacity on Asian, North American and Pacific routes and strong passenger loadings across the network.
In May, the strong growth in Chinese and Indian visitors continued with arrivals at Auckland Airport up 46.4% and 12% respectively.
In the past 12 months, visitor numbers from those two countries had achieved double-digit growth with Chinese up 27.9% and Indian visitors up 34.6%.
The more traditional travel markets of the United States and Canada also achieved good growth, up 16.1% and 15.7% respectively.
That was tempered by fewer visitors from the United Kingdom, down 1.1%, and Europe, down 2.4%.
Australia remained the top nation for international visitors in May, up 1.8% to 50,305.
