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Nelson Airport revenue takes flight

Cherie Sivignon cherie.sivignon@stuff.co.nz

Nelson Airport’s revenue has rebounded to pre-Covid levels as people make the most of the opportunity to fly and visit friends and family.

Chief executive Mark Thompson said passenger numbers had returned strongly, which in turn had driven up revenue.

In the first four months of the 2022-23 financial year, operating revenue was $5.2 million – 15% above the budget of $4.5m. Passenger numbers reached 289,000 – up 38,000 from the forecast total of 251,000.

That rising trend in passengers and revenue had been maintained through November, Thompson said.

‘‘It’s the pent-up passion of people, after two years of lockdowns, to see friends and family.

‘‘We’re loving it, but the trick is, how long is it going to last?’’

With rising costs and talk of a recession, the airport company intended to ‘‘bank these gains’’ in case the trend did not continue, he said.

Such unexpected financial gains have not been the situation for Port Nelson, where its revenue of $20.2m for the first quarter of the 2022-23 financial year was 5% down on budget.

The company’s net profit after tax of $1.7m was $1m lower than budget for the quarter, and its forecast net profit after tax for the year has been reduced by $0.2m to $7.6m.

Cargo volumes at the port were down 8% against budget for the quarter, while container throughput was 13% lower than budgeted.

Port Nelson chief executive Hugh Morrison said the key reason for cargo volumes being lower than expected was log volumes being down.

Logs, many of which were sent to China, generally accounted for about one-third of the cargo volumes at the port, he said. If the log volumes were down, ‘‘it does have a significant impact on the rest of the business’’.

However, while the container throughput for the first quarter – of 26,000 20-foot equivalent units – was down 13% against budget, it was recovering, Morrison said, with strength in the wine sector, and a strong apple season tipped.

Other factors such as volatile shipping patterns, labour shortages at some larger ports, and inflationary pressures also played a part in the uncertainty.

Port Nelson and Nelson Airport are owned 50:50 by the Nelson City Council and the Tasman District Council. A holding company for the strategic assets is being established.

News of the financial ups and downs of the airport and port comes the same week the airport’s new $1.4m Rosenbauer Panther fire truck was blessed by iwi and formally welcomed by representatives of Nelson Airport, Rosenbauer Australia, Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz), and airport operators.

Named ‘‘Flick’’ following a public competition, Thompson said the new truck would provide state-ofthe-art specialist airport firefighting capability, as well as greater protection for the firefighters.

It could deliver foam and water within seconds of arrival at an incident, features that were not standard for other emergency firefighting vehicles.

‘‘Our airport firefighters are an essential component of ensuring safe operations for every operator and traveller using Nelson Airport,’’ Thompson said. ‘‘On a day-to-day basis, they carry out a wide range of airfield support duties that ensure a safe and secure airport operating environment.’’

Nelson Airport was also working with Fenz on making Flick available for regional emergency responses, without compromising the safety of airport operations, he said. ‘‘Flick will be able to provide valuable additional capability to Fenz firefighting operations throughout Nelson-Tasman.’’

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2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281496460308318

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