Air New Zealand passengers were up five percent from a year earlier to just above one million in April, with revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) rising 2.9 per cent.
Capacity, as measured by available seat kilometres, was down 0.6 per cent while the group load factor rose 2.9 percentage points, the airline said.
For the financial year-to-date since July 1, passenger numbers were up 6.8 percent to 11.2 million, RPKs lifted 5.3 per cent, capacity was up 3.1 per cent, and the passenger load factor improved 1.7 points.
Preliminary traffic figures for April released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed a slight increase in international passenger demand, reflecting a trend of moderating growth and the lingering effects of the Japanese earthquake.
Asia Pacific airlines carried a total of 15 million international passengers in April, 1.6 percent more than in the same month last year.
The average international passenger load factor for the month was 2.1 percentage points lower, at 75 percent, as a 7.4 percent expansion in available seat capacity outpaced the growth in demand.
