Christchurch International Airport Statistics

Christchurch International Airport (CHC) is the main aviation gateway to New Zealand’s South Island. It plays a key role in the Canterbury region's economy by connecting the area to both domestic and international destinations across the Pacific.

Christchurch International Airport handles over 6 million passengers each year.

• In FY2025, 6.39 million passengers traveled through the airport, a 2.2% increase from the previous year.
• The airport reached its pre-pandemic peak of 6.93 million passengers in FY2019 before seeing major declines due to border closures.
• Passenger traffic fell to 5.19 million in FY2020, dropped further to 3.71 million in FY2021, and reached a low of 3.26 million in FY2022 during international border restrictions.
• Traffic began recovering quickly after borders reopened, increasing to 5.69 million in FY2023 and 6.25 million in FY2024.

Domestic vs International Travellers

Christchurch International Airport sees a larger share of domestic travellers, though international traffic is growing.

• Domestic travellers made up 75.6% of total traffic in FY2025, or 4.83 million passengers.
• International travellers accounted for 24.4%, totaling 1.56 million passengers.
• International passenger numbers grew by 11.4% in FY2025, while domestic traffic saw a slight decline of 0.3%.

Air New Zealand is the leading airline at Christchurch International Airport, operating the most domestic and international services from the South Island.

Domestic and Regional Airlines

• For domestic flights in FY2025, Air New Zealand held an 80% market share.
• Jetstar accounted for 19% market share.
• Sounds Air and Air Chathams shared the remaining 1%.

International Airlines

• For international flights, Qantas led with 30% market share, followed by Air New Zealand at 23%.
• Emirates held 18%, Singapore Airlines and Jetstar rounded out the top five each with 10%.

Christchurch International Airport connects the South Island with a broad domestic and international network.

• The airport serves around 15 domestic destinations across New Zealand, including Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown, Dunedin, Nelson and Invercargill.
• Christchurch Airport reports regular services to 16 airports throughout New Zealand and more than 140 international arrivals and departures each week.
• Its international network is strongly focused on trans-Tasman routes to Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns, Adelaide and Perth.
• Long-haul and regional international services connect Christchurch with Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East and North America, including Singapore, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Tokyo Narita, Fiji, Rarotonga, Dubai and seasonal San Francisco services.

Cargo volumes at Christchurch International Airport are gradually recovering.

• In FY2025, 5,522 tonnes of imported cargo were processed.
• Pre-pandemic, import volumes peaked at 10,561 tonnes in FY2019.
• Volumes fell to 6,332 tonnes in FY2020 and dropped to 4,010 tonnes in FY2021 during peak restrictions.
• Cargo remained low in FY2022 (4,042 tonnes) and FY2023 (3,988 tonnes) before rebounding to 5,430 tonnes in FY2024.

• 6 June 2003: A Piper PA-31 operated by Air Adventures crashed short of runway 20 in fog, killing the pilot and seven passengers¹.
• 8 February 2008: An attempted hijacking of Eagle Airways Flight 2279 ended when pilots overpowered the offender after landing².
• 24 July 2014: Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee was fined $2000 for bypassing security screening³.
• 31 May 2024: A Jetstar A320 slid off runway 02 after landing. No injuries were reported⁴.