Excessive Wellington Airport Profit Confirmed

Media release
8 February 2013

Excessive Wellington Airport Profit Confirmed

Air New Zealand welcomes the Commerce Commission’s report on Wellington Airport today which has confirmed that WIAL earns excessive profit through an unreasonable charging regime.

The Commerce Commission estimates that under the current regime Wellington Airport will receive up to $69 million in excess revenue over the next five years.

Air New Zealand Chief Operations Officer Bruce Parton says ordinary New Zealand travellers are shouldering the cost of this excessive profit through higher airfares than would otherwise be necessary.

“That money is coming out of the pockets of Kiwi travellers who are paying higher airfares than would otherwise be necessary.

“Air New Zealand was forced to increase airfares when the current charging regime took effect, and the impact is even greater for travellers to and from provincial New Zealand destinations because the way WIAL has structured its pricing means they are effectively cross subsidising other travellers.

“Air New Zealand is committed to reducing airfares as soon as a more reasonable charging system is implemented.

“Now the report is final, Air New Zealand looks forward to working cooperatively with the Government to help develop a swift and enduring solution to this long-running industry issue.”

Ends

Air New Zealand is proud to be a member of Star Alliance. The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Avianca, TACA Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. EVA Air has been announced as future member. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 21,900 daily flights to 1,329 airports in 194 countries.

For more information about Air New Zealand visit www.airnewzealand.com and for more information about Star Alliance visit www.staralliance.com

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