January 2026 Monthly traffic update

16/02/2026 08:30 NZDT, GENERAL

Key points:

• In January 2026 there was a total of 1,085k international passenger movements in the month, a 2% increase compared to the same month in 2025. Excluding transits, international passenger movements for the month of January 2026 also increased by 2% on the prior year. International seat capacity increased 4% on the same month last year resulting in average load factors of 85%, a 1.4 percentage point decrease;

• Reviewing nationalities for non-transit international passengers shows New Zealand nationals increased by 2% on prior year whilst Australian nationals decreased by 2% year on year. Chinese nationals decreased by 6% partly due to the later timing of Chinese New Year this year compared to last year. North & South American nationals combined increased by 7% whilst UK and European nationals increased by 8%;

• Passenger volume and airline seat capacity on short-haul international routes increased by 2% and 5% respectively producing load factors of 85%, a 2.5 percentage point decrease on prior year. Passenger movements and seat capacity on long-haul international routes both increased by 3% resulting in static year on year load factors of 86%;

• Domestic passenger movements decreased by 1% in the month of January 2026 when compared to the same month in the prior year, with seat capacity increasing 4%, resulting in a 3.7 percentage point reduction in load factors to 83%. Passenger numbers on the domestic trunk routes grew 1% compared to the year prior with 7% more seat capacity with load factors reducing by 5.2 percentage points to 83%. Regional passenger numbers and seat capacity both declined by 5% with load factors of 83%; and

• Queenstown Airport international passenger numbers in January 2026 increased 10% on the year prior and domestic passengers increased 1% on the same month last year.