May 2026 Monthly traffic update

15/06/2026 08:30 NZST, GENERAL

Key points:

• In May 2026 there was a total of 746k international passenger movements in the month, a 2% decrease compared to the same month in 2025. International seat capacity declined 4% on the same month last year resulting in average load factors of 82%, a 1.6 percentage point increase;

• Reviewing the top five nationalities for non-transit international passengers shows New Zealand nationals decreased by 7% on prior year, Australian nationals increased by 3%, Chinese nationals increased by 10%, USA nationals decreased by 2% and UK nationals decreased by 4%;

• Passenger volume on short-haul international routes decreased by 2% and seat capacity decreased by 2%, with load factors of 82%, a 0.1 percentage point decrease. Passenger movements on long-haul international routes decreased by 3% and seat capacity decreased by 7% resulting in load factors of 81%, a 3.8 percentage point increase. Flights from Auckland to the Middle East continued to be impacted by the unrest in the region, with passengers and seat capacity on the Middle Eastern routes lower by 71% and 65% respectively for the month of May 2026 compared to May 2025;

• Domestic passenger movements were in line with the same month in the prior year, with seat capacity decreasing 1%, resulting in load factors of 82%, a 0.7 percentage point increase. Passenger numbers on the domestic trunk routes grew 3% compared to the year prior on 2% more seat capacity, with load factors of 83%, a 1.4 percentage point increase. Regional passenger numbers declined 8% and seat capacity declined by 7% with load factors of 80%, a 1.1 percentage point decrease; and

• Queenstown Airport international passenger numbers in May 2026 increased by 3% on the year prior and domestic passengers increased by 9% on the same month last year.