Auckland Airport - News

Auckland Airport hosting intensive China-ready workshops

Kirsten.Wahl@aucklandairport.co.nz (KirstenWahl) — Mon, 20 May 2013 10:20:19 GMT

20 May 2013

Auckland Airport has announced it is hosting a week of workshops for airport staff to learn more about our Chinese visitors

Part of Auckland Airport’s broader Ambition 2020 programme to grow New Zealand’s share from high growth markets, the workshops are designed to help staff at Auckland Airport deliver better airport experiences for Chinese tourists – currently the fastest growing tourism market for New Zealand.

Glenn Wedlock, Auckland Airport’s General Manager Aeronautical Commercial, says the workshops are another initiative from the airport to foster and build enduring relationships with China.

“China is one of the world’s leading economies and a huge growth opportunity for New Zealand. We have experienced impressive growth in Chinese arrivals during the Chinese New Year period with 30% year on year growth in the combined two month January and February period.” says Mr Wedlock.

“New Zealand is fast becoming a very popular Chinese holiday destination and it is important that we prepare as an industry to cater for demand and maximise the benefits this market can bring to New Zealand. Chinese visitors spent $673 million in the year to March 2013, a massive increase of 42 per cent on the previous 12 months,” continues Mr Wedlock.

“These workshops will provide staff across the board at Auckland Airport with increased knowledge of how best to interact with our Chinese visitors, ensuring that we in turn provide the best possible travelling experience for them.”

The workshops, which begin today and run for the rest of the week, will see employees from Auckland Airport’s Aeronautical Operations and Retail and Commercial teams, as well as staff from Customs, Ministry of Primary Industries and the Police, receive intensive training in Chinese behaviour and communication styles from TravConsult, specialists in international customer service and tourism development.

Trevor Lee, Managing Director of TravConsult, says he is impressed with how the airport has approached these China-ready workshops as it is the first time he has seen this many different stakeholders involved in the training.

“The airport has identified key touch points when the Chinese tourists are travelling through the airport and has ensured that staff from all of these areas are involved in the workshops,” says Mr Lee.

“These workshops will make the interactions at these touch points more seamless and more enjoyable for the Chinese traveller and they highlight the airports dedication to catering for the Chinese tourism market. This is a win-win for everyone involved.”

The workshops will see participants learn about the behaviour and communication styles of Chinese people, covering different generations and different traveller markets.

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For further information, please contact:

Katie Moore
+64 9 255 9061
+64 27 473 1989

Gaining an edge in HOT markets

lia@evbmedia.com (Lia) — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:01:04 GMT

6 May 2013

While invited international travel and tourism buyers learned more about what makes New Zealand a fantastic tourist destination, local tourism operators gained insights that could help them win more business in the country’s “high opportunity target” (HOT) markets.

The opportunity came through the Auckland Airport breakfast speaker series at last month’s TRENZ conference, the tourism industry’s showcase event held in Auckland.

Three China and South East Asia experts featured in the series: international consultant Dr Pawel Grochowicz looked at the long-term trends shaping New Zealand’s inbound tourism; Weibo general manager Ken Hong talked about how to use China’s answer to Twitter to enter the Chinese market and; Vocanic Indonesia social media expert David Chalken looked at effectively using online and digital marketing in the Indonesian, Malaysian and Indian markets.

Attracting between 150 and 200 people for each session, this year’s speaker series saw unprecented attendance numbers and was the most well-attended the airport has ever held. It is part of Auckland Airport’s Ambition2020 initiative.

To find out more about each of the three speakers and read their full presentations.

Free dance performances

lia@evbmedia.com (Lia) — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:55:56 GMT

6 May 2013

Passengers and staff at Auckland Airport’s international terminal were treated to two free shows by dance company Touch Compass last month in celebration of international dance day.

Touch Compass includes both disabled and non-disabled performers, the only dance company in the country to do so, and the group used the free concerts to show off a new portable dance concept called Hotbox.

Titled “Rogue” and choreographed by World of Wearable Art’s artistic director Malia Johnston, the piece was performed by four dancers – two of whom have disabilities – and took place within a 3m square.

Touch Compass’ artistic director Catherine Chappell says the concept is incredibly demanding and energetic.

“Rogue is like a Rubik’s cube of dance – multi-layered and captivating, with many twists and turns,” she explains. “It’s part of our new audience development strategy – which is to take dance to the people – and it was fantastic that Auckland Airport championed our initiative and enabled greater awareness of inclusive performance.”

New name new look

lia@evbmedia.com (Lia) — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:51:27 GMT

6 May 2013

You may have noticed a new name on the billboard sites and posters around Auckland Airport – oOh! is the new EYE.

The change is part of a national rebrand that also includes a new tagline – A world away from home – and follows oOh!’s acquisition of EYE Corp’s New Zealand, Australian and Indonesian operations last year.

CEO Brendon Cook says the company sees New Zealand as a key growth market and, as such, the rebrand demonstrates the company’s commitment to building its brand and business here.

General manager New Zealand Cameron Taylor has been appointed to run the local operation as a standalone business and he says he’s excited by the growth prospects.

“The company has unparalleled experience in away from home and this will prove invaluable as we work to deliver New Zealand marketers with more innovative solutions to connect marketers with their consumers.”

Taking it to the trail

lia@evbmedia.com (Lia) — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:46:34 GMT

6 May 2013

It was previously home to gatherings of cattle, but the open farmland behind Auckland Airport’s retail centre will soon be playing host to a completely different breed of visitor – mountain bikers.

A 4-5km track is currently under construction and, when finished, it will be suitable for all abilities. It is part of a wider development within the Auckland Airport Business District that will include a sports field, sculpture trail and walking trails, all of which makes it perfect for an active, family day out.

Designed to be usable in all weather, the development will include a 100m “momentum” or pump track, a circuit of dirt rollers and berms that allows you to use your momentum to get around it rather than your pedal power.

Auckland Airport project manager Steve Rossouw says mountain biking is a popular recreation activity and the trail will add to the high quality amenities provided by Auckland Airport. It will also build a greater sense of community to those working at and visiting the business district.

Construction started last month and the trail is expected to be open in June. It will be free for the public to use.

Pictured: The route of the mountain bike trail currently under construction.

Auckland Airport Announces Chair Succession

Kirsten.Wahl@aucklandairport.co.nz (KirstenWahl) — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:12:33 GMT

Auckland Airport Announces Chair Succession

3 May 2013

Auckland International Airport today announced that Sir Henry van der Heyden will replace Joan Withers as Chairman of the Board of Directors when she retires immediately following the Annual Meeting in October this year.

Withers signalled at last year's Annual Meeting that she intended to step down late this year after serving for 16 years as a director of the company.

Sir Henry has been a director of Auckland Airport since September 2009. He was Chairman of the Fonterra Board for 10 years, from 2002 until he stepped down as Chairman in December 2012. Sir Henry is Chairman of Tainui Group Holdings Limited and a Director of Pascaro Investments Limited, Manuka SA Ltd, Rabobank New Zealand Limited and Rabobank Australia Limited. Sir Henry currently sits on Auckland Airport's Remuneration Committee.

"The announcement of Sir Henry's appointment to the Chairmanship will ensure a smooth governance transition over the next six months, and I know the Board will support Sir Henry in the exemplary way I have been assisted in my time as Chair. The Board will, in the coming months also be commencing the search for a replacement director to fill the vacancy created by my retirement ", said Withers.

Sir Henry said he looked forward to working with the Airport’s new CEO, Adrian Littlewood, and his experienced management team, to continue to drive tourist arrivals into New Zealand and to build this important gateway to the country.

“It is an exciting challenge because success not only brings significant benefits to the Airport, but also to the country’s national and regional economies,” he said.

Sir Henry graduated from Lincoln University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons). Twelve years later he was elected as a Director of New Zealand Dairy Group in the Waikato. He went on to become Chairman in 1999 and led NZDG through the process which ultimately saw Fonterra formed in 2001. Sir Henry also served on the New Zealand Dairy Board.

Awarded Chairman of the Year in 2012 and New Zealand Herald Business Person of the Year in 2007, Sir Henry was honoured with a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2009.

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For further information, please contact:

Katie Moore
+64 9 255 9061
+64 27 473 1989

Auckland Airports charges competitive and bring benefits to travellers

Ajay.Dutta@aucklandairport.co.nz (AjayDutta) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:19:00 GMT

30 April 2013

Auckland Airport has welcomed the Commerce Commission’s draft report released today, which shows Auckland Airport has operated transparently and constructively within the regulatory framework for the benefit of the travelling public and New Zealand’s economic growth.

“We’ve listened to our airline partners, and we believe our international and domestic pricing models are highly competitive compared with other leading airports in New Zealand and around the world,” said Auckland Airport’s Chief Executive, Adrian Littlewood.

“The Commerce Commission has concluded the current disclosure regime is working. Auckland Airport is committed to full and constructive participation in the regulatory process that relates to airports, airlines and the travelling public.”

Successive accolades in the World Airport Awards are testament to Auckland Airport’s focus on expanding the quality and range of products and services for consumers across all parts of the airport experience Mr Littlewood said. In the 2013 awards, Auckland Airport was named the Best Airport in the Australia / Pacific region for the fifth year in a row and was also awarded Best Staff Service for the Australia Pacific region. Auckland also came second globally to Vancouver in the Best Airports by "size of airport", for airports handling 10 to 20 million passengers annually.

“Airport charges are designed to achieve a reasonable return on significant investments in essential long-term national infrastructure. Our charges are very competitive alongside other leading airports and represent a fair deal for airlines and the travelling public. We have endeavoured to stimulate greater passenger choice and airline competition by actively promoting New Zealand in overseas markets.”

International benchmarking shows that total charges to operate at Auckland Airport are ‘middle of the pack’ compared with its peers, and domestically they are below the average for airports in this region.

Total charges per turnaround for international flights - All aircraft types (NZ$)

Source: Leigh Fisher analysis, 2013. Total turnaround costs include landing charges, aircraft parking charges, passenger related charges, security charges and terminal navigation charges. While the first three of these charge types are imposed by airport operators the approach to other charges varies by airport and Leigh Fisher and Airbiz calculations take this broader approach to ensure comparability across airports.

Domestic turnaround cost - A320 planes (NZ$)

Source: Airbiz, 2013

Our share of charges, broken down on a passenger basis, amounts to $5.55 per domestic passenger and $21.55 per international passenger.

Mr Littlewood said, “When prices were recently set there was a small increase in domestic charges to help fund much-needed capacity improvements at the Auckland domestic terminal. While on international we were able to reduce in the average cost for an international passenger.

“The travelling public and New Zealand’s economy are the ultimate winners of the transparent regulatory environment which came in in 2008. For example, since 2008 total seat capacity on international and domestic routes has increased by more than a million seats. International return flights are up by around 3,200 with more than 11,000 seats available return per month to the U.S. through Hawaiian Airlines and China Southern Airlines providing an additional 18,000 seats return per month to China.”

Our share of charges, broken down on a passenger basis, amounts to $5.55 per domestic passenger and $21.55 per international passenger.

“If you add this to other innovations such as the reduction of international airport arrivals processing time since 2008 by 27 minutes, down to 18 minutes today, we deliver great overall value to the travelling public,” Mr Littlewood added.

Beyond benefits to the travelling public, Auckland Airport’s active role in route development has national benefits. Every incremental daily widebody aircraft service delivers approximately $125m to the country per annum, and the growth in the China market is a clear example of the potential contribution to the country. The Chinese visitor holiday market has increased by 40 per cent year on year and spend has increased by 27 per cent to the year ending June 2012, reaching an estimated $522 million total value.*
“Auckland Airport is a strong supporter of government strategy to secure the benefits of increasing the number of visitors and the value they bring to our country and to help our exporters in growing the sector and increasing earnings. The government is massively increasing tourism investment, which means capacity across industry needs to grow. Infrastructure takes a long time to deliver and the industry needs certainty to invest to ensure government investment is not undermined.

“We intend to continue to invest substantially in a new Domestic Terminal and a second runway which will deliver considerable on-going benefits to the travelling public. Auckland Airport delivers a world-class quality airport experience and our charges are designed to achieve a reasonable return on significant investments of essential long-term national infrastructure.”

For further information please contact:
Katie Moore
katie.moore@aucklandairport.co.nz
+64 09 255 9061
+64 27 473 1989

* Source: International Visitors Survey, June 2012

Auckland Airport first airport in world to partner with Weibo in travel

Ajay.Dutta@aucklandairport.co.nz (AjayDutta) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:30:00 GMT

22 April 2013

First airport in the world and first business in Australasia to partner with Weibo

Auckland Airport establishes leading partnerships with Chinese digital giant for promoting NZ Tourism & Trade

Auckland Airport has announced it is partnering with China’s leading social media website Sina Weibo through its new digital programs in China, including the use of content from its luxury tourism website www.xindaohualv.com and new independent traveller site www.xinxilanlvcheng.com, allowing New Zealand tourism related businesses and air services to be marketed to an audience of over 500 million.

Part of Auckland Airport’s broader Ambition 2020 programme to grow New Zealand’s share from high growth markets, the partnership with Weibo aims to attract more Chinese visitors – currently the fastest growing tourism market for New Zealand. Sina Weibo is a micro-blog, described as a hybrid of Twitter and Facebook, and one of the most popular sites in China, with a similar market penetration to that of Twitter in the USA.

Adrian Littlewood, Auckland Airport’s Chief Executive, says he is expecting great results from the Weibo partnership. “Our reach in China through innovative digital marketing will be significantly enhanced with the Sina Weibo partnership. As China’s largest social media site, with a staggering 500 million users of all ages and almost 50 million using the service daily, Weibo is the perfect place to launch our application designed to sell and promote travel. Users will be able to learn about destinations, have access to special travel deals and share their holiday experiences with friends and family," says Mr Littlewood.

Sina Weibo’s General Manager of Weibo Marketing Strategy, Ken Hong says, "Not only are over 500 million consumers using Sina Weibo, over 200,000 companies have also registered their enterprise Weibo accounts to communicate with their target audience. With the massive user base and the rich social features, brands are able to reach many consumers very quickly. Sina Weibo has developed many different products on the platform that enable brands to accomplish a wide range of marketing and business goals such as branding, social customer relationship management, lead generation, social commerce, customer services and more.”

“Since Sina Weibo is one of the best social networking site platforms in China covering the affluent consumer segment, and with these consumers increasingly using social media for making purchase decisions including travel, it is a perfect channel to reach, educate, engage, and convert them into travellers to destinations like New Zealand.”
“China's affluent segment is growing extremely rapidly and outbound travellers are increasingly looking for destinations that provide a high-quality travel experience. We need to provide them with information about New Zealand in a way that is relevant and meaningful to them," says Mr Hong.

The Weibo partnership also forms part of Auckland Airport’s innovative digital and influencer marketing strategy which is aimed at driving growth of targeted Chinese visitors through partnerships between China and the NZ industry. Over the last year, Auckland Airport has implemented a range of initiatives in the digital marketing space including large scale social media programmes, linked back to travel agents, NZ tourism operators, airlines and the travel websites, to help the industry develop increased profile and penetration in market.
The websites are designed to grow greater Chinese arrivals to New Zealand and provide more information about New Zealand travel experiences, helping change pre-conceptions of what New Zealand can provide. Weibo, as the largest player in social media, provides us with a trusted influencer partnership with visitors all across China and gives NZ immediate scale in a huge market space. It also enables Auckland Airport to learn more about potential travellers and offer them the opportunity to buy tickets and individual tour packages to New Zealand.
A direct daily air service between China and New Zealand, launched in November 2011 by China Southern Airlines, has produced over 40 per cent year-on-year growth in Chinese holiday visitor numbers to New Zealand. New Zealand's economy has reaped the benefits of this daily service, with Chinese visitor spend an estimated $522 million from June 2011 to June 2012 – an increase of 27 per cent from the previous year.

Glenn Wedlock, Auckland Airport’s General Manager Aeronautical Commercial, says Auckland Airport is committed to continuing to invest heavily to promote New Zealand as a top travel destination within China.

“China is the largest e-commerce market in the world and recent research commissioned by the airport indicates a large influence in destination choice is coming from digital sources, of which Weibo is the largest player, so we want to develop a great win/win partnership here in the travel space. We must take leadership in this space if we want to compete for an enduring relationship with Chinese travellers. Over 20% of visitors from China knew very little of New Zealand before they arrived and over 60% tell us they only knew a little, so we know that by developing knowledge, awareness and connection through Weibo we can certainly lift the experience and attractiveness of NZ tourism products,” says Mr Wedlock.

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