Summer skies: Justin Watson
The airport is buzzing with international visitors to Ōtautahi up 15% on last year.
We’re right in the middle of our airport’s busy summer season, the time of year when our airline partners add more flights into Christchurch, bringing tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world with them.
These direct flights from Hong Kong, China and the USA have a massive contribution to our tourism industry for the summer and give the Christchurch and South Island economy a mega boost.
This summer, our airline partners have arrived earlier, are staying later, or are using bigger planes. Altogether, this adds up to 140,000 extra international seats connecting the world to our city, that’s around fifteen per cent more than this time last year. We’ve also recently announced new routes to Cairns, Adelaide and Rarotonga, opening up even more chances for Cantabrians to escape to the sunshine and visitors to experience all the South Island has to offer. But this increase in numbers doesn’t happen by chance. Our airport team works year-round with airlines and travel agents across the globe and partners with ChristchurchNZ and Tourism New Zealand and many other organisations making sure Te Waipounamu and our vibrant city is firmly on the map for travellers.
I’m proud of the role we play in supporting tourism and the wider economy, and even as this summer unfolds, we’re already got our sights on the next one.
