November 2023 Monthly traffic update & Dec 2023 Preview

November 2023 Monthly traffic update & December 2023 Preview For November 2023, total passenger volumes at Auckland Airport increased by 18% compared to November 2022 and were 87% of the November 2018 pre-COVID equivalent, the last full year not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. International passengers (excl. transits) increased by 31% versus November 2022 and represent 88% of the November 2018 equivalent. Transit passengers were up 12% compared to November 2022, representing 69% of November 2018 equivalent. Domestic passengers for November 2023 increased by 7% compared to November 2022 and represented 89% of November 2018 pre-COVID equivalent. Key Points: o International passengers (excl. transits) increased by 31% compared to November 2022 due to passenger numbers almost doubling on the Asia network, led by pronounced recovery on the Chinese, Hong Kong, and Japan routes. The Americas route returned to pre-COVID levels for the month with 104k passengers traveling. The market has been stimulated by the return of the North American airlines to Auckland with six airlines serving mainland USA and Canada during November 2023; o Short-haul international demand continues to improve, increasing 14% on the year prior, representing a 90% recovery relative to pre-COVID levels. Increased airline capacity and improving load factors have resulted in passenger numbers to the Pacific Islands exceeding pre-COVID levels at 102k in the month; o Total passenger movements on the domestic network increased by 7% compared to November 2022 with a combined 14% increase on Christchurch and Queenstown routes; o Queenstown Airport international passenger numbers increased 18% on the year prior and domestic passengers increased 9% on the same month last year. December 2023 Monthly traffic preview For December 2023, total passenger volumes at Auckland Airport increased by 15% compared to December 2022 and were 86% of the December 2018 pre-COVID equivalent, the last full year not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. International passengers (excl. transits) increased by 26% versus December 2022 and represent 86% of the December 2018 equivalent. Transit passengers were up 5% compared to December 2022, representing 69% of December 2018 equivalent. Domestic passengers for December 2023 increased by 5% compared to December 2022 and represented 89% of December 2018 pre-COVID equivalent. Key Points: o International passengers (excl. transits) increased by 26% compared to December 2022. Passengers on the short-haul international network increased 13% compared to the year prior and reached 89% of December 2018, whilst airline load factors on the route were down on the year prior, they are now in-line with pre-COVID levels. Long-haul international passengers increased by 45% on the prior year and were 83% of December 2018. Airline load factors on the long-haul international route are below pre-COVID levels a result of the 114% year on year increase in airline capacity to and from the USA and China and passenger numbers increasing 80% compared to December 2022; o New Zealand nationals on the international network recovered to 97% during December 2023 compared to pre-COVID levels and represents a 20% increase on December 2022. Australian passport holders are the second largest segment of international passengers and grew by 2% during December 2023 compared to the prior year and recovered to 86% of December 2018. Americans are the third largest passenger segment and increased by 35% compared to the year prior and are 99% of December 2018. The fourth largest segment was Chinese passport holders, recovering to 66% of December 2018 and increased by 222% on prior year; o 22nd December was Auckland airports busiest day in nearly four years with 64k passengers traveling through the airport and 526 flights operating; o Total passenger movements on the domestic network increased by 5% compared to December 2022 on 3% more seats resulting in load factors increasing by 2ppts compared to last year and a 4ppts increase on December 2018. Over 0.5m passengers travelled on domestic trunk routes in the month with airline load factors reaching 89%; o Queenstown Airport international passenger numbers in December 2023 increased 10% on the year prior and domestic passengers increased 3% on the same month last year. Please see attached pdf for full report. End CA:00425183 For:AIA Type:GENERAL Time:2024-01-24 08:30:29