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Airport Passenger Numbers
The total number of passengers using Christchurch International Airport grew by 1 percent or 36,100 persons in the year to June 1996.
International passenger numbers at the Airport continue to increase rapidly. In the year to June 1996 international passenger numbers increased by 9.1 percent, from 778,000 in the June 1995 year to 849,000 by June 1996 (Figure 3.22). The airport company attributes this growth to "A combination of a strong New Zealand dollar coupled with intense competition resulting in discounting of trans-Tasman air fares" This result compares to an average annual growth rate of 5.7 percent during the previous 20 years.
In the medium term the airport company is expecting international passenger growth to continue at approximately 8 percent annually, falling to 6 percent per annum as the Asian out-bound market matures. In line with this scenario the airport company predicts international passenger numbers will increase to 1.11 million by 1998/99.
Source: Christchurch International Airport Ltd
In contrast to the positive result achieved for international travel, domestic passenger numbers actually fell by 34,600 during the June 1996 year (Figure 3.22). The airport company attribute this decline to the slowing domestic economy and the high level of the New Zealand dollar which has encouraged out-bound New Zealand travel. The Airport has also been disrupted during the year by several periods of industrial action. Despite this temporary decline in domestic passenger numbers the Company still expects growth of 400,000 passengers by 1998/99, increasing annual domestic passenger movements through Christchurch to 3.28 million per annum.
Stage One of a major twenty year development programme for the Airport has recently commenced. The $80 million first stage has begun with the expansion of the International Terminal. At it’s peak 250 workers will be employed on this task. The new terminal will be two and a half times the size of the existing facility, with an additional 28,000 square metres of floor space added to the existing 11,000 square metres which will be refurbished. Work has also begun on the car park expansion and redesign. The completed work will provide an additional 300 parking spaces and improved design for short and longer term parking. Improved parking for coaches will also be provided as part of this stage.
In a recent informal survey of local business associations the freedom of operation for Christchurch International Airport and the Port of Lyttelton were consistently listed as one of the major strategic assets which the City needed to protect.