Auckland Airport hails North American passenger boom

Delta, Air Canada and American Airlines planes at Auckland. (Image: Auckland Airport)

Auckland Airport has celebrated a “record-breaking” number of North American passengers over the 2023–24 summer period.

New Zealand’s largest airport saw more than 500,000 passengers to and from the US and Canada over the summer, with 58 per cent more available seats on North American routes compared to the summer of 2022–23. The airport says the North American market is now bigger than 2019.

“There’s been 20 per cent more New Zealanders, and a whopping 56 per cent increase in Americans and 14% increase in Canadians flying the North American routes over summer,” said Scott Tasker, chief customer officer at Auckland Airport.

Air New Zealand, Qantas, Air Canada, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines have all flown non-stop between Auckland and North America during the northern winter, serving seven cities on the continent. Four airlines will continue services to six North American cities during the northern summer.

“North America is our third biggest inbound tourism market and within that the Los Angeles route has been a real bright spot. We’ve gone from one airline – Air New Zealand – flying once a day last summer, to having Air New Zealand, American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines, together flying up to four times a day,” said Tasker.

“California has traditionally been a strong market for inbound tourism and when we look at the 40 million-odd Americans who had New Zealand at the top of their travel bucket list, more than 20 per cent call California home. We’ve seen that flow through into traveller numbers with a 180 per cent increase in US nationals on the Los Angeles route this summer.

“We also can’t underestimate the power of having those three major US airlines plus Air Canada connecting with Auckland. Collectively they have around 300 million people in their loyalty programmes, providing great brand and consumer reach, and domestic network coverage that makes a long-haul destination like New Zealand that little bit easier to get to.”

Auckland is currently in the midst of a massive terminal integration program, which will connect its international and domestic services. The airport says it will increase aircraft capacity by 26 per cent and passenger processing space by 44 per cent.