Increasing air connectivity is critical to economic growth
Wellington International Airport welcomes the announcement from the Government to negotiate new and improved air services agreements with countries in East Asia and South America. “We are constantly pursuing opportunities with airlines to increase and develop new routes. International airlines have many airports, regions and countries vying for their new capacity, and any barriers that create delay or uncertainty can materially reduce the likelihood of new services. Wellington Airport is targeting long haul services, which will have huge benefits for travellers and the region, and looks forward to working with the Government and other partners to make these services a reality,” said CEO of Wellington Airport, Steven Fitzgerald.
Currently airlines cannot provide more services until Governments go through the process to agree additional capacity. For example, the route from Guangzhou to Auckland with China Southern Airlines has now exhausted the agreed capacity between China and New Zealand which is set at one flight per day for each country’s airlines. Given a route like this is worth $150M to the New Zealand economy, it is crucial that the Government’s policy is directed at encouraging expansion.