Wellington Airport unaudited half-year results to 30 September 2022

Wellington Airport has announced its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 September 2022 with an EBITDAF before subvention payment1 of $40.2 million and a net profit after tax of $11.0 million.

This compares to an EBITDAF of $31.5 million[1] and net profit after tax of $2.9 million for the same period last year.

“It’s great to see a strong rebound in passenger numbers which shows people are keen to travel again,” says Wellington Airport chief executive Matt Clarke.

“Domestic seats operated are now almost 90% of pre-Covid levels for this period, with international seats at 44% and increasing as airlines add more capacity.

“We’ve continued to carefully manage our capital spending after a challenging couple of years, with priority on reconstructing Taxiway Bravo and seismic upgrades. Work has started on a new electric bus terminal and a new Airport Fire Station.”

In this period Wellington Airport has secured the designations to develop the current airport landholdings and the southern half of the Miramar Golf Course. This allows the Airport to expand over time as demand increases, enabling it to handle new sustainable aviation technology like electric flights and replace our current gas boilers with a lower emissions plant.

Wellington Airport has already made strong progress on sustainability in this period, scoring 98 out of 100 and achieving a 5-Star rating from GRESB in their recent independent assessment. Some of the highlights include:

• Replacing a third of our vehicle fleet with electric vehicles so far
• Recycling 100% of the asphalt from our runway resurfacing project (nearly 18,000 tonnes diverted from landfill)
• Diverting 33% of total waste from landfills in 2021/22
• Partnering with other airlines and airports to prepare for electric flights.

The Airport has also continued to support the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards, the Wild at Heart Spirit Awards for college students, and sponsor major events like WoW, Wellington on a Plate and Beervana.

The results of this work have been reflected in very positive survey results. The most recent customer survey showed 65% rated Wellington Airport as ‘better’ or ‘much better’ than other airports.

[1] EBTIDAF before subvention is a useful non-NZ GAAP measure of earnings which presents management’s view of the underlying business operating performance. A reconciliation between Wellington Airport’s NPAT and EBITDAF before subvention payment is set out in Note A1 of the Financial Statements for the period ended 30 September 2022. No subvention payment was made in the period.