Christchurch Airport takes off

Christchurch International Airport

Christchurch International Airport is the largest tourism business in the South Island. It has 10 commercial airlines flying 7.9 million airline seats per annum (circa 10,000 international and 60,000 domestic flights p.a.) and 28,000 tonnes per annum of high value freight forecast for 2016.

As the Gateway to the South Island, the airport is the largest arrival point for visitors to the South Island and to the City of Christchurch.

The airport is has just experienced a record-breaking summer with more passengers than ever before using the airport driven by new airlines and new services from existing airlines. New international capacity has been added from Singapore Airlines, China Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Qantas and Virgin. This has driven around $150 million of new international visitor spending into the regions of the South Island this summer. The airport is on target to reach 6.3 million passengers for the full year (up from 5.9 million for the prior full year.)

The airport works collectively with all South Island regional tourism organisations in an initiative named “South”, to market the whole island as a touring destination for international visitors.

South last year included seven trade missions through China and Asia, as well as workshops at home to assist tourism operators to ‘become China ready’. The airport’s New Horizons Fund complements this work, offering grants to regional South Island tourism operators to help them capture the opportunities from the growing China market.

The airport is the largest single centre of employment in the South Island, with 6000 people working on campus. It also supports more than 60,000 jobs across the regions of the South Island.

www.christchurchairport.co.nz