Christchurch Airport hits annual record of 6 million passengers

Christchurch International Airport has continued its record-breaking streak with the announcement that it has had the highest ever number of passenger movements for 12 months ending June 30, just edging over 6 million passenger movements. There was an increase of over 80,000 passenger movements.

“As New Zealand’s second largest airport, we are delighted that we are bringing more tourists into the country and further developing the tourism industry,” said CIAL Chief Executive Jim Boult.

In 2010, Christchurch Airport set new passenger movement records for February, March, April and June, as well as the year in total.

“This result is highly pleasing given that 2009 was one of the worst years in aviation history,” said CIAL Chief Executive Jim Boult. “We achieved our improved result by creating a marketing plan for the last financial year to ensure passenger and airline growth. It involved actively working with airlines, regional tourism offices in the South Island and Tourism New Zealand, as well as wholesalers in key in-bound markets including China, India and Australia. This was recognised internationally and nationally with Routes Marketing awards and being named Airport of the Year award last year.”

“This has been a true test of our collaborative efforts and bodes well for the future,” said Jim Boult. “I’d like to acknowledge all the regional tourism organisations we work with to increase visitor numbers to the South Island. We have some exciting plans to be revealed in the coming months as we build on our reputation as New Zealand’s tourism gateway.”

In addition to the annual result, three monthly records were set during June: a record number of daily and total passengers for the month of June, and a record number of domestic passengers for the month of June.