Data Dump Reveals Capacity Decrease at Air New Zealand

Passenger capacity at Air New Zealand was down 4.4% in February 2025 compared to February 2024, according to a March 31 investor update. Long-haul available seat kilometres (ASKs) had decreased by 5.5%, short-haul international ASKs fell by 3.9%, and domestic ASKs decreased by 0.9%.

Air New Zealand says the drop in ASKs is due to having fewer operational aircraft. This is because of issues with the Pratt & Whitney engines attached to their Airbus 320neo family types and the Rolls Royce engines attached to their Boeing 787-9s.

Overall, Air New Zealand flew 1,240,000 passengers in February 2025. This compares to 1,305,000 passengers in February last year. There were 3,144,000 available seat kilometres in February 2025 compared to 3,287,000 ASKs in February 2024.

Average passenger loads (how full the aircraft was) were 82.7% in February 2025 versus 79.3% in February 2024.

Drilling into the data, Air New Zealand carried 809,000 passengers on its domestic flights in February 2025 compared to 868,000 in February 2024. Passenger loads averaged 81.3% in February 2025 compared to 74.5% the previous February.

Long-haul international services (which include Asia and the Americas) carried 148,000 passengers in February 2025 versus 140,000 passengers in February 2024. The average passenger load on these flights was 81.3% in February 2025 compared to 75.5% in February 2024.

Trans Tasman and South Pacific flights flew 283,000 passengers in February 2025 compared to 297,000 passengers in February 2024. Passenger loads on these flights averaged 85% in February 2025 versus 83.9% in February 2024.

Air New Zealand flies to 49 airports in 18 countries. All up, it operates 112 aircraft, although 14 are out-of-service. These out-of-service aircraft are the cause of the capacity decreases.

You can read the investor update here.