Statistics

Organisations operating at the airport employ more than 1500 people on site, and hundreds of other jobs in the region are derived directly from airport activities.

Vital Statistics
Staff employed by WIAL 80
Staff working on the airport campus: around 1 500 full time equivalent
Land area of airport: 110 hectares
Length of runway: 1,936 metres
Size of main terminal building:
Level 0: 7,200 sq m
Level 1: 10,000 sq m
Level 2: 3,000 sq m
South West Pier: 2,100 sq m
Northern Pier 9,000 sq m
South Pier: 1,000 sq m
Main terminal building total 32,300 sq m

Passenger volumes
(financial year)
Passenger movements (thousands) 1999* 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Domestic 2,345 3,168 3,199 3,235 3,454 3,865 4,015 4,007 4,060 4,418
International 336 445 470 469 446 456 587 565 575 603
Total 2,681 3,613 3,669 3,704 3,900 4,321 4,602 4,572 4,635 5,021
*In 1998 WIAL changed its financial year from 30 June to 31 March. All 1999 figures are, therefore, for the nine month period ended 31 March 1999

Aircraft volumes
Aircraft movements 1999* 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Domestic 84,338 111,806 107,618 94,456 95,586 99,992 94,652 92,886 93,950 93,670
International 3,748 4,830 5,118 5,288 5,024 4,968 5,848 5,848 5,678 5,270
Other 9,006 13,048 12,616 10,946 11,850 12,232 12,502 15,404 11,480 12,330
Total 97,092 129,684 125,352 110,690 112,490 117,192 112,982 114,138 111,108 111,270
* For the nine-month period ended 31 March 1999.

Passenger demographics

The high volume of traffic at Wellington airport relates to Wellington’s status as New Zealand’s ‘corporate office’, in both the political and business sense. One passenger survey undertaken by WIAL showed that 55% of passengers were on business trips, 35% on private trips and 6% on a combination. Of those business travellers, about 75% using Wellington airport come from other centres and an estimated 25% are Wellington based.

  • Domestic flights account for around 87 percent of passengers – of which around 68 percent travel during the week and 22 percent at the weekend.

  • For every 10 passengers, 6 to 7 other people use the airport terminal. These people are ‘meeters and greeters’ and even sightseers.

For up-to-date operational statistics please click here