Auckland Airport has seen a 20% increase in traffic flying over North America following disruption at Middle Eastern hubs.
AKL’s ceo Carrie Hurihanganui says airlines are now following a well-worn path to respond to fuel price spikes but so far there has been no major disruption.
When fuel prices go up, airlines add a surcharge, crank that up and in the current case will redirect flights, she adds.
“We’ve seen a 20% uptick of traffic over North America because they can’t go over the Middle East,’’ she told a Project Auckland event.
If prices go up too far, passengers won’t travel and then airlines start to consolidate and shrink their networks, as Air New Zealand and Jetstar have done although there’s been only a limited impact.
“We’re not seeing a lot of change to other airlines at this point in time, and I don’t expect we will but it does go back to duration if it goes on and on, that’s when we’ll start to see a little bit of consolidation.”
The airport handles 90% of long-haul traffic through the country. “Aviation is resilient, having bounced back after oil shocks, eco nomic problems and a pandemic”, she says. You do see a blip and then it recovers,’’ says Hurihanganui, a former NZ executive.
. . . Travel’s Strength
Before the war outbreak AKL’s business development team had been to north and south America and many parts of Asia, and airlines had been positive to increase some services and start new ones.
While the current crisis may mean AKL’s plans are paused, she is confident the ‘strong intent’ will lead to further international expansion.
Her optimism is supported by Boeing figures which show that despite wars, terror attacks, a financial crisis and a pandemic, airlines expanded at just under 5% over a 35-year period, well ahead of general economic growth.
