AIA February 2017 – Monthly Traffic Update

February 2017 Monthly traffic update 6.8% International passengers (excluding transit passengers) increased by 6.8% to 819,280 in February 2017, despite Chinese New Year travel falling in both January and February this year and the leap year effect in the prior year. The 52,000 passenger increase on February 2016 was driven by increased capacity on Asia (up 29%) and the Americas (up 16.7%) and the addition of 40,000 new seats on Middle Eastern routes connecting through Doha and Dubai to the UK and Europe. 15.2% New Zealand resident departures from Auckland Airport were up 15.2% in February 2017. Departures to Australia (up 10.6%) and the Pacific Islands (up 8.4%) remain popular, with very strong growth to the Cook Islands (up 30.1%) boosted by Jetstar's new service. Kiwi long-haul departures were also very strong (up 23.4%) with the increase in international capacity delivering more competitive travel options for New Zealand travellers. This departures growth was driven by travel to South East Asia (up 34.6%), India (up 28.8%), Japan (up 44.6%) the United States (up 19%), and the UK and Europe (10.6%). -7.5% The earlier timing of Chinese New Year this year resulted in markedly fewer visitor arrivals from China in February 2017 (down 35%). While combined January and February Chinese Visitor arrivals were down 7.5% on 2016 (unadjusted for the leap year), the Chinese visitor market continues to mature with the share of free independent travellers to New Zealand (56%) now surpassing the group travel market, resulting in a longer length of stay and a wider distribution of visitor nights and spend across New Zealand regions. 10,500 weekly seats Qatar Airways commenced daily services between Auckland and Doha in February, and Emirates has celebrated its first year of direct Dubai services, providing a quarter of a million additional seats in the last year. Together these two airlines have added an additional 10,500 weekly seats between Europe and New Zealand compared to 12 months ago. Please see attached pdf for full report. End CA:00298697 For:AIA Type:MONTHLY Time:2017-03-22 12:47:55