Jetstar carries nearly 9000 in a month in and out of Hamilton

Thursday, 31 July 2025

Thousands of Jetstar passengers have flown in and out of Hamilton in the first weeks of a new service.

Nearly 9000 passengers have taken flights to and from the Gold Coast and Sydney in the first month alone.

About half were inbound and half outbound, Hamilton airport said. Some were the same people travelling in both directions.

Of the nearly 9000 passenger count, 4887 were on the Sydney flights and 4014 on the Gold Coast services, according to Statistics NZ data.

The figures were revealed at Tuesday’s Hamilton City Council economic development committee meeting in a presentation from Waikato Regional Airport Limited (WRAL), of which the council is a 50% shareholder

Chief executive Mark Morgan told councillors the Gold Coast three days a week service had about an 89% load factor since commencement mid-June through to the end of last week. The four flights a week Sydney service was about 76%, he said.

He said later the numbers were “about what we had hoped for” and that the airport’s expectations are for the flights to carry 100,000-120,000 annually.

Committee chairperson Ewan Wilson, an airline veteran, told the Waikato Times in a break: “With my airline background, I’d be in heaven if I was getting 89%. That’s a very good load factor.”

Morgan confirmed to the committee: “The activity of the routes has performed ahead of our business case and ahead of the business case for Jetstar. So that’s going very, very well.” Forward bookings were also positive.

There had been minimal disruptions to the new services due to weather or mechanical issues, he said.

Anecdotal comment was that as well as Waikato generally, New Zealand customers flying Jetstar from Hamilton were being drawn from Bay of Plenty, Rotorua and Taupō.

There had been great customer feedback on the ease of getting from the carpark to aircraft and on the way the international terminal worked.

Border agencies were also “very comfortable”.

Asked by councillor Maxine van Oosten about the success of working with Australian “cousins” on creating benefits for Hamilton from the new services, Morgan said there was “very active” co-operation both sides of the Tasman on promoting flights.

“We need to fill the aircraft both ways.”

When it came to local benefits, WRAL chairperson Barry Harris said: “The secret to the social and economic benefits are the numbers coming in and we’re seeing that.”

WRAL dividends to shareholders have been a contentious past issue and councillor Moko Tauariki asked when these might be restored - WRAL paid one in 2023-24 but there’ll be none for 2024-25 and it’s unlikely these will resume for some years.

Harris said shareholders had been told investment in getting Jetstar to Hamilton meant the company was likely to struggle for several years to pay dividends, and WRAL was also increasing debt.

Tauariki said he was getting the impression a dividend was at least three years out.

Said Harris: “You can’t take value till it’s there”. WRAL needed to stick to its financial strategy.

Tauariki responded “our strategy is also to expect that we’re going to get a dividend and so when we’re not getting those then we’ve got explain that” to ratepayers.

“We will move back to paying a dividend as quickly as we can,” said Harris.

In a break, Wilson - who’s also challenged dividend policy previously - said he had accepted pausing dividends, noting WRAL’s clear investment strategy.

“The shareholders can be patient.”

Outside the meeting, Morgan noted that while councils might be foregoing dividends for now the flights were helping deliver significant regional economic benefits.

WRAL’s draft operating revenue for 2024-25 was about $1 million up at $19.8 million but this was “modest revenue growth” in subdued economic conditions.

However new jet services, including Jetstar’s and flights to Christchurch, are expected to contribute $1.8 million to revenue this financial year.