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Vaughan Brookfield/Stuff
Coming in for landing at Queenstown Airport at dusk.
Queenstown Airport will pay shareholders a record annual dividend of $15.54 million after a strong recovery during the past financial year.
The Queenstown Airport Corporation released its annual report for the year to June 2023 on Wednesday.
Board chairperson Adrienne Young-Cooper said the results reflected the steady return of passengers throughout the year after two years of disruptions due to Covid-19.
“During the reporting period, stability returned and all domestic and international routes are operating again,” she said.
Queenstown Airport
The plan outlines development plans for the international airport over the next ten years while allowing space to accommodate future technological aviation developments.
The $15.54m dividend equated to a payment of $390 per ratepayer in the Queenstown Lakes District Council, which holds 75.01% of shares. The remainder are held by Auckland Airport.
The annual report showed revenue of $59.6m, net profit after tax of $22.2m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $43.9m.
Young-Cooper said operating expenditure was comparatively low during the reporting period due to reduced budgets in place at the start of FY23 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“During the second half of the year, as more certainty returned, operating expenditure increased to normalised levels.”
Supplied/Stuff
The Queenstown Airport terminal is undergoing a large-scale upgrade.
Passenger and aircraft movements were now similar to the financial year ending June 2019 with almost 18,000 scheduled aircraft movements and 2.4m passenger movements.
An aircraft and passenger movement includes their arrival and departure.
General aviation operators based at Queenstown Airport also reported a strong recovery over the year.
Chief executive Glen Sowry said staff numbers at the airport increased by about a third over the year as workforce capacity was rebuilt.
Other developments have included the establishment of an integrated operations centre, where airport managers work alongside Aviation Security managers and airline representatives; the installation of extra self-service and automated bag-drop technology; and four solar-powered aircraft access ramps.
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Queenstown Airport Corporation chief executive Glen Sowry said staff numbers are increasing again after Covid-19 pandemic disruptions.
A large scale terminal upgrade and sustainability strategy were also under way.
Community consultation on a draft Masterplan was undertaken earlier this year and the results were expected to be available soon.
The last Masterplan it released was in 2018 and it proposed to increase noise levels and more than double the number of passenger movements at the airport to over five million by 2031.
It was so unpopular it was dumped by Sowry soon after he started in the role in 2021.
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