Wellington International Airport Limited Analysis

Overview

Wellington International Airport Limited is one of New Zealand's three main airports, which caters for approximately 5 million passengers per year and 100,000 aircraft. In 1998 the Crown sold its shareholding, 66% to listed infrastructure company Infratil Limited and 34% to Wellington City Council, a specialist investor in infrastructure and utility assets.

Infratil is listed on the NZX and owns airports in New Zealand and Europe, as well as electricity; waste to energy; and port investments in New Zealand and Australia. Since Infratil became a shareholder the Airport Company has invested over $250 million in its facilities.

On 2 December 2008, Wellington International Airport was listed on the NZDX following an initial offering for $50 million fixed rate bonds with the ability to accept over subscriptions of up to $50 million. As at 22 December 2008, $50 million unsecured unsubordinated five year, fixed rate bonds were fully subscribed. The top three bondholders include FNZ Custodians (11.71%), TSB Bank (9.2%) and Westpac Institutional Bank (5.52%).

WIA derives its revenue through three different streams: passenger revenue, property revenue and aeronautical revenue. The investment statement indicates an upward graph trend in increasing revenue over the past 11 years from between $6-7m in 1997 to around $30m in 2008 in passenger and property revenue alone.

Performance

The following information was extracted from Wellington International Airport Limited's Annual Report, released on 8 May 2026:

Wellington Airport releases financial results

Wellington Airport has released its financial results for the 12 months to 31 March 2026, highlighted by solid earnings and the completion of major airfield and terminal upgrades. Strong commercial performance alongside a 4% increase in international passengers has helped achieve an EBITDAF of $133.4 million, up from last year’s $130.2 million.

In this period the airport hosted 5.1 million travellers, down slightly from 5.3 million last year, and achieved a net profit after tax of $15.7 million.

Wellington Airport chief executive Matt Clarke comments: “It’s been a year of delivery for Wellington Airport with significant upgrades completed to our runway and terminal. “The EMAS runway system is an important safety project that also opens opportunities to connect Wellington directly to long-haul destinations. “We’ve completed our new Airport Fire Station and the terminal has a stunning new look with the Manu Muramura centrepiece and the new multi-level venue Good Day.

“The financial results are pleasing and reflect a strong year of performance, particularly from the commercial side of the business. This has been achieved despite pressure on regional connectivity and Air New Zealand’s well-known fleet availability issues. “We’ve kept a focus on controlling costs and have worked closely with our airline partners on the timing of infrastructure projects. “This has put us in a solid position to manage the current challenges facing the aviation industry and the wider economy.”