NZ announce strong profit

Its finical reporting season for Australasian aviation, and first out of the blocks was Air New Zealand reporting their third straight year of profit with a net profit of $262M(NZD).  This net profit represents a 45% increase on FY13.

Chairman Tony Carter said that the result represented the third consecutive year of strong earnings growth for the airline.  “This is a result Air New Zealand can be proud of. Our employees, our customers and our shareholders can be confident that Air New Zealand continues to be a world leading airline both in terms of customer experience and financial performance,” Mr Carter said.

Air New Zealand reported an 84.1% Load Factor for FY14 with 13,719,000 passengers carried.  This is mainly thanks to domestic passengers, with domestic capacity up 5.4% on the back of the replacement of the Boeing 737-300 fleet with Airbus A320s, and the introduction of new ATR 72-600s.  Domestic saw 8,920,000 passengers with a load factor of 81.1%.

FY15 will see the biggest increase in fleet numbers with a total of 10 aircraft entering the NZ fleet. 2x Boeing 787-9, 4x Airbus A320, 3x ATR 72-600 & 1x Boeing 777-300.  In the same period the remaining Boeing 747-400 will retire and the Boeing 737-300 fleet will dwindle to just 2 frames.

Read more on the Air New Zealand result via their releases to the New Zealand Stock Exchange 
- each section includes a downloadable pdf document
 - Media Announcement
 - Shareholder Review and Financial Report
 - Annual Results Fact Sheet
 - Results Analyst Presentation

Expansion at NZWB/BHE begins

As reported on this blog (way back in Sept 2013) the $4M (NZD) expansion of the terminal at Marlborough Airport, Blenheim (NZWB/BHE) is underway.

The first stage of the expansion is the construction of the new rental car kiosks out in the car park area, this will release the space that the rental car kiosks currently occupy inside the terminal.

The second half of stage one will see the expansion of the baggage reclaim area, which will also see this area come completely undercover and out of the elements.  (A damn good idea in my opinion, having had some amazing cold and horrible experiences arriving back into BHE from BNE at night)

The Marlborough Express reports building of the new kiosks began last month with the entire project expected to be completed by March 2015.  Which means the terminal can be showcased to travellers arriving for the 2015 Classic Fighters air show at Omaka.

{Dean} Heiford wanted to remind people that during the next five months, the front of the terminal would become congested, he said.  "I would encourage people to get dropped off and picked up or make use of the taxis and shuttles.  "We have a couple of extra guys working at peak times to help with it [congestion] so we can make it as easy as possible for passengers."

Read the latest Marlborough Express article HERE or find out more about the expansion via the Marlborough Airport Website HERE

NZ/SQ alliance approved

Finally 4 months after the Singapore authorities approved the alliance, the New Zealand Government has given its approval to the new alliance between Star Alliance partners Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines for flights on the AKL-SIN route.

The alliance will see Singapore Airlines hand over its evening flight (SQ281/282) 08:45-22:45AKL/ 23:50-06:40+1SIN which is currently 5x weekly, to NZ who will operate it as a daily 772ER service.  SQ will hold onto their morning flight (SQ285/286) 21:10-10:50+1AKL 12:10-19:00SIN which operates with a 773ER.  This will be up gauged seasonally to operate with SQ's A380.

With the addition of the A380 to the SIN-AKL route, AKL will host 4x A380 on the ground each day with EK already operating 3x A380 to AKL.

Charles Spillane, Auckland Airport's acting general manager aeronautical commercial, says the new alliance will bring substantial capacity growth and improved connectivity.
"This alliance between Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines demonstrates the commitment that both airlines have to growing connections between Singapore and New Zealand and we congratulate them on this," said Spillane.

Read more on the reaction to the alliance's approval via The New Zealand Herald HERE