NZPA reports that Air New Zealand on Friday revealed a drop in passenger numbers and load factors in the Tasman and Pacific market.
There have been predictions of bitter competition on the trans-Tasman routes as new operators increase capacity in an already competitive market at a time when the New Zealand economy is in recession.
The number of passengers carried on Tasman and Pacific routes by the airline fell by 10 percent in September from the same month last year and the passenger load factor fell 7 percentage points to 71.6 percent.
“This looks to be an increasingly difficult market over the coming months and the airline is taking a disciplined approached to managing both frequency and aircraft type used on trans-Tasman routes,” Air New Zealand said.
The airline’s overall load factor fell by 2.5 percentage points to 77.8 percent in September.
The airline carried 1.199 million passengers in the month, down 4.5 percent on the same month last year.
The domestic passenger load factor dropped by 1.2 percentage points to 72.3 percent from last September.
It domestic capacity decreased by 1.1 percent as schedules were closely managed.
In the long haul market, passenger load factors remained relatively high at 82 percent, decreasing 0.8 of a percentage point.
Short haul load factors decreased by 5.1 percentage points to 71.8 percent.
Air New Zealand has hedged 95 percent of its 2009 US dollar operating cash flow exposure and 60 percent of its 2010 exposure at US76c.
That is much higher than the current level of the NZ dollar, which was today trading below US59c.
Air New Zealand has said it is monitoring demand across all markets and closely matching capacity to demand.
A Report by The Mole from NZPA
