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Auckland International Airport Limited

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FY2019 Annual Report · Auckland International Airport Limited
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Delivering 
for the 
future

Annual Report 2019

▼ Reference image only, actual design will vary

8

Anchor 
projects

1

2

Airfield

1

NORTHERN 
RUNWAY

Terminal

2

3

NORTHERN 
STANDS AND 
TAXIWAYS

NEW CARGO 
PRECINCT

core infrastructure projects 
that will transform our precinct 
and anchor our 30-year 
vision to build an airport of 
the future, improving the way 
New Zealanders connect with 
each other and the world.

In the financial year 2019 we 
were pleased to commence 
two of these projects – our 
airfield expansion and the 
Northern Network roading 
project – while progressing 
others from feasibility 
through to design stage.

d Auckland Airport has eight 
e
s
u
c
o
F

Constructing

Feasibility

Delivered

Design

COVER IMAGE:
Sunshower Sculpture by Eric Rieger  
aka HOT TEA, seen with suspended 
bronze coloured Godwits by Gensler 
& Weta Workshop

Key

Feasibility/ Design

Constructing

1

8

3

4

7

5

6

Transport

4

5

6

7

8

NEW 
INTERNATIONAL 
ARRIVALS

NEW DOMESTIC 
JET FACILITY

DOMESTIC 
TERMINAL 
WORKS

PICK-UP / 
DROP-OFF AND 
MULTI-STOREY 
CAR PARK 1

NORTHERN 
NETWORK

Feasibility

Design

Constructing

Delivered

Annual Report 20192

Auckland Airport achieved an important milestone in the financial year 
2019 – the completion of our multi-stage 36,000m2 redevelopment 
of the departure area in the International Terminal, which is providing 
significant customer benefits.

g
n
i
r
e
v

i
l

e
D

Our investment property business 
continued its strong track record of growth, 
delivering new developments, including the 
award-winning facility for DSV. 

We built over 2,000 new car parks in the 
2019 financial year to meet customer 
demand, including new valet storage 
spaces and provisioning for new electric 
vehicle charging stations.

Annual Report 20193

14 New food 

and beverage 
outlets

International departure 
area upgrade

a better, 
faster, easier 
travelling 
experience

Increased choice for customers 

Our award-winning new food and 
beverage area offers customers 
everything from Vietnamese, to 
award – winning Italian, to authentic 
Chinese dumplings, as well as popular 
New Zealand high street brands, 
such as Al Brown – Best Ugly Bagels, 
Mexico and Better Burger.

To read more about our modern dining 
and retail precinct, turn to page 17.

Ara, our airport jobs and skills 
hub, placed 210 people in jobs 
in the financial year 2019 and 
shifted into new headquarters.

Annual Report 20194

Transport improvements continue to be a key focus for 
Auckland Airport, as we work to enable public transport 
and improve travel times in and around our precinct. 

i

g
n
n
n
a
P

l

A new six-storey car park is planned 
for the International Terminal, featuring 
more than 3,000 car parks. 

Auckland Airport’s hotel business 
is expanding, with plans for a 
new 146-room hotel – our fourth 
on the precinct. 

Annual Report 2019We are working in partnership 
with New Zealand Transport 
Agency (NZTA) and 
Auckland Transport (AT) 
on a range of projects, 
as part of the Southwest 
Gateway programme. When 
completed, the programme 
will deliver a new bus and 
rail interchange at Puhunui 
Station and a rapid transit  
link to Auckland Airport.

5

We are progressing our plans for a 
new Domestic Jet Facility to provide 
additional capacity and a significantly 
improved customer experience.

Our plans for a 30,000m2 expansion 
and upgrade of the International 
Terminal arrivals area are well 
advanced, featuring a new arrivals 
hall and expanded Biosecurity and 
Customs processing to improve 
peak time capacity.

to accommodate 
projected growth  
and improve 
customer journeys

We continue to advance our plans for 
a second runway to accommodate 
the 40 million passengers that are 
expected to arrive by 2044.

Annual Report 20196

Auckland Airport is building an 85,000m2 facility for Foodstuffs, bringing 
together the supermarket co-operative’s North Island operations in one 
state-of-the-art purpose-built facility. Once complete, the building will be 
New Zealand’s largest logistics centre. 

g
n
d

i

l
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u
B

Our largest airfield expansion since the 1970s is under 
way, as we convert 250,000m2 of land into new airfield 
space at the western end of the airport. Adding more 
than 18% surface area to the airfield, the project will 
deliver new taxiways and six new remote stands.

18% in surface 

area added  
to the airfield

Annual Report 201916
7,000m2

cranes to install 

of roofing in one lift

improving  
our roads and 
expanding our 
airfield and 
property portfolio

7

Our largest roading project in 
decades is under way, with the 
upgrade and expansion of our inner 
core roading system. The Northern 
Network project will transform the 
main entranceway into the airport 
and enable public transport.

Construction has begun on the new 
luxury Te Arikinui Pullman Auckland 
Airport Hotel – a joint venture 
between the airport and Tainui 
Group Holdings. The 311-room 
hotel will create 300 jobs during 
construction and will then employ 
200 people once the hotel is open.

We are working to deliver a new 
operational air traffic control centre 
for Airways, a resilient 1,420m2 
facility built to withstand significant 
natural disasters. 

Annual Report 20198

Patrick Strange 
Chair

Adrian Littlewood 
Chief Executive

Nau mai  
& welcome

Nau mai and welcome to 
Auckland Airport’s 2019 
annual report for the 2019 
financial year. 

It has been a positive year for Auckland 
Airport, as we continued to deliver 
strong results for our customers, local 
community, New Zealand and investors. 
We have made considerable progress 
on our 30-year vision to build an 
airport of the future, achieving several 
milestones in the year to 30 June 2019 
as part of our multi-billion-dollar 
investment programme. This includes 
the beginning of two core anchor 
infrastructure projects, our most 
significant since the 1970s, along with 
the completion of our multi-stage 
redevelopment of the International 
Terminal departure area. 

We are proud of the growing 
contribution we are making to our 
community, including the work we 
are doing to connect local people with 
opportunities through Ara, our airport 
jobs and skills hub. In 2019 we were 
once again recognised by Colmar 
Brunton as one of New Zealand’s 
most trusted companies, and we 
are making meaningful progress on 
reducing our carbon footprint as a 
founding member of the New Zealand 
Climate Leaders Coalition. 

The financial year 2019 was another 
year of passenger growth, although 

Annual Report 2019Five-year average  
annual shareholder return

22.6%

Consistent returns  
over period of  
significant change

9

Leveraging agile 
methodology, we are 
bringing together 
diverse teams and 
evolving our way of 
working with the 
objective of delivering 
planning certainty, 
improved cost control 
and a realistic and 
achievable build 
programme.” 

it was slower than in recent years. 
Overall, passenger numbers increased 
to 21.1 million (up 2.8% on the previous 
year), with international passenger 
numbers, including transits, reaching 
11.5 million (up 2.2% on the previous 
year). Domestic passenger numbers 
reached 9.6 million (up 3.6% on the 
previous year). 

Those who travel through our airport 
continue to give us great feedback, and 
in the financial year 2019 our combined 
customer satisfaction rating for the 
Domestic and International terminals 
climbed to its highest annual score in 
12 years – 4.15 out of 5. 

Separately, the International Terminal 
achieved a record score in the third 
quarter, rating 4.36 out of 5. This followed 
our focus on delivering meaningful 
customer improvements in the financial 
year 2019, including upgraded bathroom 
facilities, generous public seating areas, 
greater access to device charging 
stations and a sophisticated new 
food and beverage experience in the 
international departure area. We were 
delighted to see some of our work at the 
International Terminal recognised in a 
prestigious global award in 2019, with 
Auckland Airport winning the ‘Airport 
Food & Beverage Offer of the Year’ at 
the International Airport Food & Beverage 
Awards. The health and safety of our 
customers also remained a top priority, 
and we were pleased to reduce our 

passenger injury rate by 41.3% year 
on year across our operation.

The growth in our investment property 
business was another highlight. Auckland 
Airport now owns and manages one 
of New Zealand’s largest premium 
investment-grade portfolios, with an 
estimated value of $1.7 billion and a 
committed rent roll of $100 million as 
at June 2019. 

As always, our progress and 
achievements are thanks to the 
commitment and dedication of 
our staff and contractors and their 
enduring focus on doing the very 
best for our customers.

In the financial year 2019, we delivered 
transport upgrades that have reduced 
travel times, such as the completion of 
the Nixon Road bypass and the Landing 
Road intersection upgrade, in partnership 
with NZTA. We acknowledge the 
importance of safe and efficient transport 
options for travellers to get to, from and 
around the airport and we are advocating 
on their behalf and working closely with 
our government partners to deliver 
meaningful improvements.

In June 2019 we began our largest, 
airfield project in decades – a 250,000m2 
pavement expansion to accommodate 
the number of aircraft expected by 2044, 
flying an estimated 40 million travellers 
each year. As one of eight key anchor 
projects planned for Auckland Airport, 
the development includes new taxiways 

and remote stands for the parking and 
servicing of aircraft – increasing the 
surface area of the airfield by 18%. 

We reached a milestone for another key 
anchor project in June 2019, with a 
contract being awarded for the Northern 
Network. The project will expand the 
roading network to the north of the 
existing terminals to improve traffic flows, 
enable public transport and upgrade 
and strengthen underground utilities – 
all to support future terminal and 
runway developments. 

In the financial year 2019, we also 
continued to carry out works to upgrade 
the existing Domestic Terminal to improve 
the experience for our customers while 
we prioritise our plans for a new Domestic 
Jet Facility to be integrated into the 
International Terminal. 

These transformational projects are just 
a few of more than 200 projects either 
planned or underway at Auckland Airport, 
as part of a highly complex infrastructure 
development programme being rolled out 
in one of our country’s busiest 
development precincts. 

At Auckland Airport, we are harnessing 
new ways of working to create a strong 
foundation to underpin this next phase 
of growth. In 2019, we embarked upon 
an intensive programme of work to refine 
and enhance our investment plan for 
key aeronautical infrastructure projects. 
Leveraging agile methodology, we are 
bringing together diverse teams and 

Annual Report 201910

REGULATORY AND 
PRICING UPDATE

Following a review of our aeronautical 
prices that were set in 2017, the 
Commerce Commission concluded 
our target return was not fully justified.

Auckland Airport carefully considered 
the Commission’s feedback and in 
February this year we announced a 
reduction in our aeronautical target 
return from 6.99% to 6.62%, to be 
implemented by way of discounts 
on landing and passenger charges 
effective 1 July 2019. In our view, 
the earlier prices we set for airlines 
were fair, competitive and in line 
with international standards, 
however, we acknowledged the 
Commission reached a different 
view on target return.

In March 2019, the Commerce 
Commission recognised Auckland 
Airport’s willingness to engage and 
respond positively to its feedback, 
welcoming Auckland Airport’s decision 
to reduce its charges to airlines by 
$33 million over the current five-year 
pricing period (2018 – 2022 financial 
years), the equivalent of $0.31 per 
passenger per flight. It noted that 
Auckland Airport’s decision to revise 
its pricing was a good result for 
consumers and showed the benefits 
of the current information disclosure 
regulations that are applied to  
New Zealand’s major airports. 

evolving our way of working, with the 
objective of delivering planning certainty, 
improved cost control and a realistic and 
achievable build programme. Our airline 
customers have been at the heart of 
this process, to ensure we are as 
closely aligned as possible as we shift 
into a major phase of development.

We are confident with the insights and 
progress we have made and continue to 
develop our detailed roadmap ahead for 
the delivery of the next decade of key 
projects. We look forward to providing 
a more detailed update at our investor 
day in November 2019.

The additional time we have invested 
in these valuable formative stages has 
led to lower capital expenditure than 
planned for the 2019 period – reaching 
$284.1 million against the previous 
guidance of $280 million to $330 million. 
However, we expect to finish the five-year 
pricing period (2017 – 2022) strongly 
and broadly in line with the forecast 
released to the market in mid-2017, 
delivering approximately the same 
value of commissioned or in-use 
aeronautical assets. 

We look forward to the changes 
ahead and the future benefits that 
will undoubtedly flow through to 
our customers. 

Auckland Airport had a solid year from 
a financial perspective, with revenue up 
8.7% to $743.4 million, while earnings 
before interest expense, taxation, 
depreciation, fair value adjustments and 
investments in associates (EBITDAFI) 
increased 9.6% to $554.8 million. 

Total profit after tax was down 19.5% 
to $523.5 million, due to the previous 
year including the $297.4 million gain 
on the sale of our investment in North 
Queensland Airports. Underlying net profit 
was up 4.4% to $274.7 million and our 
underlying earnings per share was up 
3.6% to 22.8 cents for the 2019 financial 
year. Our final dividend is 11.25 cents 
per share. The dividend reinvestment plan 
will again be available for the final 2019 
dividend at a 2.5% discount to the market 
share price. 

As we look to the 2020 financial year, 
we expect underlying profit after tax 
(excluding any fair value changes and 
other one-off items) to again be between 
$265 million and $275 million. This 
guidance is in line with the guidance 
for the previous year, reflecting several 
factors, including moderating passenger 
growth, the impact of the discounts 
announced in February this year to our 
previously published aeronautical prices, 
modest operating expense growth, along 
with an increased depreciation expense 
associated with the step up in our 
infrastructure build. As always, this 
guidance is subject to any material 
adverse events, significant one-off 
expenses, non-cash fair value changes 
to property and deterioration, as a result 
of global market conditions or other 
unforeseeable circumstances.

Auckland Airport is committed to growing 
New Zealand’s success in travel, trade 
and tourism and we would like to take this 
opportunity to thank our community and 
customers for their continued support 
and patience as we work hard to build 
an airport of the future. 

We look forward to 
the changes ahead 
and the future 
benefits that will 
undoubtedly flow 
through to our 
customers.” 

Patrick Strange 
Chair

Adrian Littlewood 
Chief Executive

Annual Report 2019 
11

Underlying net profit

$274.7m
 4.4%

The directors and management of Auckland 
Airport understand the importance of reported 
profits meeting accounting standards. However, 
owing to the complexity of accounting standards, 
it may be difficult for investors to compare one 
financial year’s results with another. Therefore, 
we also provide an underlying profit measure 
to help investors compare profits between years 
and to make comparisons between different 
companies with confidence. We believe that an 
underlying profit measure can assist investors 
to understand what is happening in a business 
such as Auckland Airport, where revaluation 
changes can distort short-term financial results 
or where one-off transactions, both positive and 
negative, can occur.

For several years, Auckland Airport has referred 
to underlying profit alongside reported results. 
We do so not only when we report our results 
but also when we give our market guidance 
(where we exclude fair value changes and other 
one-off items) or when we consider dividends 
and our policy to pay 100% of underlying net 
profit after tax, excluding unrealised gain and 
losses arising from revaluation of property or 
treasury instruments and other one-off items. 
However, in referring to underlying profits, we 
acknowledge our obligation to show investors 
how such results have been derived. The 
reconciliation for the current period can be 
found on page 33.

Annual Report 201912

2019 
highlights

2.8%

21.1m

Passengers

Domestic

9.6m
 3.6%

International

10.5m
 3.0%

International transits

1.0m
 4.9%

Revenue 

$743.4m
 8.7%

Operating 
EBITDAFI

$554.8m
 9.6%

Total profit

$523.5m
 19.5%

Underlying profit

$274.7m
 4.4%

Dividend per share

22.25 cents

 2.3%

Interim 
11.00¢
▲ 2.3%

Final 
11.25¢
▲ 2.3%

Underlying earnings 
per share

22.8 cents

 3.6%

Five-year average annual 
shareholder return
22.6%

Capex investment

$284.1m
 29.9%

Annual Report 2019 
13

Ara – our airport  
jobs and skills hub

Environmental  
impact reductions*

Key 
statistics

Health & safety 

 6.8%

Reporting of safety observations 
and hazards

 2.2%

784

Training opportunities

696

Employee recordable injury rate

Participants engaged in training

210

Total job placements

175

South Aucklanders placed in jobs

77

Students on work experience  
(2018 calendar year)

 41.3%

Passenger incident rate

Diversity

40%

Percentage of female employees

33%

Female senior managers

45

Recorded ethnicities – noting 
that not everyone who works 
at Auckland Airport discloses 
their ethnicity

 18%

Energy use  
per passenger

 46%

Waste to landfill  
per passenger

 33%

Carbon emissions per m2

Our science-based target:

* All environmental impact figures 
are in relation to our 2012 baseline

* Our science-based target: 45% per 
m2 reduction in carbon emissions 
by 2025 from our 2012 baseline

$345,781

Granted to community projects by the Auckland Airport 
Community Trust to support learning, literacy and life 
skills in South Auckland

$583,907

Invested in our local communities (including $345,781 
to the Auckland Airport Community Trust and $238,126 
through other Auckland Airport grant programmes)

Giving back 
to our local 
communities, 
Auckland and 
New Zealand.

Annual Report 201914

Faster,  
Higher,  
Stronger

In May 2018, the Board endorsed a 
continuation of our five-year Faster, 
Higher Stronger strategy for the next 
four-year period through to 2022. This 
strategy is centred around creating the 
airport of the future and is anchored on 
our ambition to ‘make journeys better’ for 
all customers and partners of Auckland 
Airport. The strategy continues to unfold 
amid a number of changes in the industry, 
including evolving aviation and tourism 
markets, high immigration, along with the 
delivery of complex development projects.

Faster,  
Higher,  
Stronger

Faster,  
Higher,  
Stronger

We’re growing 
travel and  
trade markets

We’re 
strengthening our 
consumer business

We’re being fast, 
efficient and 
effective

We’re investing  
for future  
growth

We are strengthening and 
extending our retail, transport 
and accommodation 
businesses to ensure we can 
respond to evolving customer 
needs. This means we are 
increasing the range of 
products and services we 
provide and making Auckland 
Airport more appealing to our 
customers – thereby making 
their journeys better.

We are improving our 
performance by increasing 
the efficiency and productivity 
of our assets, processes, 
operations and balance sheet. 
A fast, efficient and effective 
airport makes journeys better 
by saving time and money for 
airlines and travellers.

We are building on our strong 
foundations for long-term, 
sustainable growth by 
investing in the infrastructure 
required to meet long-term 
customer needs. This makes 
journeys better both within the 
airport and around our vibrant 
business district.

We have an ambitious and 
innovative approach to 
helping New Zealand 
sustainably unlock growth 
opportunities in travel, trade 
and tourism. Growing travel 
markets with our airline and 
industry partners makes 
journeys better by providing 
customers with greater 
choice and delivering more 
convenient flight schedules 
and by offering better value for 
money for all customers and 
partners of Auckland Airport. 
In addition, new airline routes 
help to grow trade activity by 
creating more opportunities 
for businesses to connect 
with their key customers in 
global markets. 

Annual Report 201915

Faster, Higher, Stronger embraces our 
objective of making journeys better and 
is a commitment to making improvements 
in everything we do. In late 2013, the 
strategy set a number of new aspirations 
to drive our company’s performance. 
These high-level aspirations and our 
progress to date are not market guidance 
and the results are likely to fluctuate from 
year to year. However, they provide the 
company with a sharp focus on important 
goals that underpin our long-term success. 
By 2019, we had achieved almost all of our 
aspirations – as set out in the table below. 

:
s
n
o
i
t
a
r
i
p
s
A

400,000

Double Chinese arrivals to 400,000 by 
FY17, up from 213,781 in FY13

$60.0m

Build property rent roll to $60 million by 
FY17, up from $44 million in FY13

10m

Achieve 10 million international passengers 
by FY18, up from 7.3 million in FY13

20m

Reach 20 million total passengers by FY20, 
up from 14.5 million in FY13

:
9
1
Y
F
n

i

d
e
k
c
a
r
t
e
w
w
o
H

360,805

A decrease of 8.7% in FY19

$100.0m

An increase of $9.8 million in FY19

11.5m

An increase of 0.3 million in FY19

21.1m

An increase of 0.6 million in FY19

Reflecting that Auckland Airport has achieved and surpassed almost all of the 
aspirations set back in 2013, new medium-term aspirations are in development and 
we intend to socialise these at our investor day scheduled for November 2019.

Annual Report 2019 
 
 
 
16

Working for 
customers, 
enhancing 
their journeys

Delivering
For passengers For airlines

Annual Report 2019As Auckland Airport 
continues to grow  
New Zealand’s flight 
connections to the world, 
we are striving to deliver 
a world-class experience 
for every customer who 
passes through our doors.

From improving processes for travellers,  
to online shopping, we are investing 
significant time and resources to deliver 
improvements across every aspect of 
the customer journey to ensure we meet 
the expectations of travellers and deliver 
a great experience. 

During the 2019 financial year, 
we achieved a significant milestone: 
the completion of our expanded 
departures area in the International 
Terminal – a 36,000m2 upgrade to 
the aviation security screening area 
and retail precinct providing a 
sophisticated new retail high 
street and a modern food and 
beverage area.

The development features a wide 
range of customer experience 
improvements, including:

•  upgraded and oversized bathroom 

facilities, a dedicated ‘recompose area’ 
post security for customers to repack 
and get organised, numerous new 
charging points to power devices, 
as well as two hours free Wi-Fi for 
all visitors and extended hours for 
members of our loyalty programme, 
Strata Club;

•  contemporary Ma¯ ori design and 

illustration by award-winning artist 
Dr Johnson Witihera, featured in 
digital panels through to carved details 
on columns, doorways and pillars; 

•  14 new food and beverage outlets 

offering everything from Vietnamese, 
to award-winning Italian and authentic 
Chinese dumplings, as well as popular 
New Zealand high-street brands such 
as Al Brown – Best Ugly Bagels, 
Mexico and Better Burger; and 

•  in total, 32 new retail concepts opened 
in the financial year 2019, showcasing 
the best of New Zealand including 
Icebreaker merino clothing to Manuka 
honey, Whittaker’s Chocolate and an 
All Blacks Adidas outlet. Luxury 
international brands include Kate 
Spade, Weekend Max Mara and 
Michael Kors – the first time these 
stores have opened in New Zealand.

,

3
6
0
0
0
m

2

17

Delivered 
expanded departure 
area – International 
Terminal

14

new food and 
beverage outlets

32

new retail concepts, 
from local to 
international brands

The international departures development, 
which also features sculptured godwits 
and kahawai fish created by Weta 
Workshop, has been recognised in 
several awards, including from the 
NZ Institute of Architects, the NZ Property 
Council and the Moodie Davitt Report 
Airport Food & Beverage Awards, 
winning the F&B Offer of the Year 
Award in June 2019.

Auckland Airport looks forward to 
embarking upon another significant 
expansion of the International Terminal 
in the year 2020 – with the 30,000m2 
upgrade of the arrivals area. The project’s 
physical works are currently scheduled 
to begin in January 2020, featuring a new 
arrivals hall and expanded Biosecurity 
New Zealand and New Zealand Customs 
processing and queue areas to improve 
peak-time capacity.

It was another record year for traveller 
numbers at both our International and 
Domestic terminals. Over the 2019 
financial year, an average of 31,555 
travellers arrived or departed each day 
from the International terminal, up 2.2% 
on the previous year. At the Domestic 
Terminal, an average of 26,284 travellers 
arrived or departed each day, up 3.6% 
year on year. 

Annual Report 2019The response from our customers to 
the new expanded environment has 
been very positive with sustained overall 
customer satisfaction scores ranking 
above 4 out of 5 for both terminals in all 
four quarters of the year, a 12-year high 
for Auckland Airport. During the third 
quarter of the financial year, following 
the completion of improvements to retail, 
food and beverage and dwell spaces in 
departures, our customer satisfaction 
rating at the International Terminal 
improved to its highest point in 12 years 
– 4.36 out of 5. This placed Auckland 
Airport third out of a comparative 
international peer group of 24 airports, 
selected on the basis of size, passenger 
volumes, routes and ownership structure 
by Airport Service Quality (ASQ), a global 
benchmarking programme for airport 
customer service. 

Beyond the expansion of our International 
Terminal, Auckland Airport has continued 
to focus on additional operational and 
customer service improvements 
throughout the precinct. 

In the financial year 2019, Auckland 
Airport’s Service Delivery team carried out 
research and embarked upon a customer 
service transformation to ensure we 
provide a relaxing and enjoyable 
experience for our customers. We have 
developed a customer service promise 
and guiding principles to enhance service 
levels throughout the customer journey. 
Over the coming months, as we train our 
staff on the new principles and service 
standards, we are confident that our 
customers will see the benefits when 
travelling through. 

As we shift into a new phase of significant 
construction works to create an airport of 
the future, we are also building a strong, 
collaborative community of contractors 
and stakeholders to ensure we keep our 
customers safe.

In the financial year 2019, we established 
a Common User Safety Protocol (CUSP) 
with many of our partners (airlines, border 
agencies, security partners and ground 
handlers). The CUSP, signed by our CEO 
and other senior executives, is a joint 
commitment by businesses operating 
around the airport precinct to provide the 
safest working environment possible in 
common-use areas in and around the 
terminals. We also reallocated staff 
resourcing to high-accident areas, 
helping to reduce our passenger injury 
rate by 41.3%. 

Other customer improvements included: 

•  4,000 new braked baggage trolleys 
across Domestic and International 
terminals. The new trolleys are an 
upgrade in safety, design and 
functionality being 10kg lighter and 
able to handle loads up to 300kg;

18

AIRPORT STORE   
OF THE FUTURE 

As the world becomes increasingly 
digital, Auckland Airport has been 
working hard behind the scenes to 
develop innovative online shopping 
platforms for our customers. 

Auckland Airport was one of the 
first airports in the world to launch 
an online multi-retailer shopping 
marketplace called The Mall, 
enabling international travellers 
to shop at multiple retailers via 
a single online check out, with 
a click and collect service. 

In June 2019, we marked the 
one-year anniversary of The Mall, 
which now offers over 4,500 duty 
and tax-free products across 
10 categories, including over 
375 leading New Zealand and 
international brands. The platform 
has been well received by 
international travellers, with orders 
growing 20% month on month 
throughout the 2019 period and 
earning a customer satisfaction 
score of 89%.

In February 2019, we also launched 
a WeChat mini-store specifically for 
Chinese customers travelling 
through Auckland Airport. 
Customers now have available to 
them more than 700 items from 
across eight different categories 
within the WeChat app and select 
whether they would like to collect 
their order as they arrive or depart 
from Auckland Airport.

4,500+

products across 10 categories, 
including over 375 leading  
New Zealand and international brands

Annual Report 2019%
7
8

increase in 
Strata Club 
memberships

•  four additional AviRamps purchased, 
providing travelling guests with a 
safer, more comfortable and faster 
disembarkation experience;

•  around 70% of customers now 

using self-service kiosks to start their 
journey. In the financial year 2019, we 
doubled the number of self-service 
kiosks to 120, reducing average 
check-in and bag drop times from 
20 minutes to 8.5 minutes; and

•  ongoing works at the Domestic 

Terminal to provide additional space 
for aviation security screening, 
a reconfiguration of the food court 
area, as well as a new retail offering.

Strata Lounge at the International Terminal 
continues to be a popular choice for the 
travelling public, with 230,189 guests 
in the 2019 financial year, up 49% on the 
previous year. We are looking to introduce 
a Strata Lounge into the Domestic 
Terminal in the 2020 financial year, 
with construction already under way. 

Our online community is going from 
strength to strength, as we have 
continued to invest in our digital channels 
to provide useful information, convenient 
retail experiences and to recognise and 
reward regular travellers. Highlights for 
2019 included:

•  We outperformed our target for new 
Strata Club memberships, increasing 
87% during the period; and

•  The Auckland Airport app had a 9.9% 
increase in travellers using the app, 
and an increase of 69.2% in parking 
bookings via the app, while new 
features were added, such as real-time 
queue wait time information.

Auckland Airport is proud to have been 
recognised as one of Colmar Brunton’s 
top 10 most trusted New Zealand 
companies for the third year running. 
Being a reputable New Zealand business 
is important to us and we are proud 
to be trusted by customers and 
our stakeholders.

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AIAL & BIOSECURITY NZ

Forging stronger 
relationships to drive 
customer experience 
improvements

Greater collaboration between 
Auckland Airport and Biosecurity 
New Zealand has continued to 
deliver an improved experience for 
customers in the financial year 2019, 
resulting in faster processing times 
for travellers. 

Over the past three years, our two 
organisations have worked closely 
together to enhance biosecurity 
screening and provide a more 
seamless experience for travellers 
during busy periods, particularly 
during the northern winter/summer 
peak. By sharing data unique to 
each organisation, the partnership 
has been able to simulate and test 
scenarios involving high traveller 
numbers, allowing for improved 
future resource planning.

Auckland Airport and Biosecurity 
New Zealand also worked together 
to simplify the way travellers move 
through biosecurity screening, 
reducing the number of lanes from 
three to two and removing the option 
for people to move through 
biosecurity differently, depending 
on their nationality. 

These changes resulted in a more 
streamlined customer journey 
through the international arrivals area 
during 2018 and 2019 and reduced 
overall processing times by 10.5%, 
while preserving border security 
standards. We are proud of these 
gains and it demonstrates what 
a close working relationship can 
achieve when there is a common 
goal. We look forward to working 
with Biosecurity New Zealand in 
the year ahead, as we begin our 
30,000m2 upgrade of the arrivals 
hall, including an expansion of 
Biosecurity New Zealand’s area. 

Annual Report 2019 
 
 
20

Transport

Consistent,  
reliable journeys

NORTHERN 
RUNWAY

In December 2018, following a public 
hearing process, Auckland Council 
released its recommendations on 
the notices of requirement to enable 
the construction and operation 
of the northern runway. Auckland 
Airport largely accepted these 
recommendations, however a number 
of appeals have since been lodged 
with the Environment Court. Resolution 
of these appeals will be a significant 
milestone, allowing us to progress 
the next phase of detailed planning 
and design for the second runway. In 
the meantime, we continue our work 
on design and construction planning. 
We are in deep consultation with our 
airline customers regarding the timing.

Auckland Airport is the guardian of 
one of New Zealand’s most important 
transport hubs and we are working 
hard to build for the future, delivering 
long-term improvements to the 
transport network for our customers.

In the 2019 financial year, we completed 
a number of significant projects and 
progressed others through to design and 
construction, greatly improving access 
and travel times for people travelling to, 
from and around the airport.

In November 2018, we completed the 
new Nixon Road extension – a 920m 
stretch of road providing a direct link from 
north (SH20A) to south (SH20B), enabling 
motorists to bypass the busy main 
intersection at George Bolt Memorial 
Drive and Tom Pearce Drive. In the six 
months to June 2019, the connection 
helped to remove 50,000 heavy vehicle 
transit movements from the core airport 
roading network, helping to improve flows 
and travel times for terminal-bound traffic. 
Currently, of all vehicles transiting through 
the precinct, 27% of them are heavy 
vehicles using Nixon Road. 

Auckland Airport built over 2,000 new 
car parks in the 2019 financial year to 
meet customer demand, including 500 
valet storage spaces (open in July 2019) 
and a new system to guide customers 
to available spaces. At the same time, 
we provisioned for 20 electric vehicle 
charging stations, to complement the 

existing electric charging stations we 
have at the Domestic Terminal and at 
our valet storage area. 

During the peak 2018/2019 summer 
period, we introduced a range of initiatives 
to ensure a well-functioning transport 
network. These included a new ‘drop and 
ride’ service away from terminal buildings 
to reduce forecourt traffic and a travel 
reward promotion to encourage airport 
precinct workers to use public transport. 

In the year ahead, we will continue our 
programme of work to create a resilient 
transport network, ensuring consistent, 
reliable journeys for people travelling to, 
from and around Auckland Airport.

In June 2019, a contract was awarded 
for the Northern Network project – our 
largest roading infrastructure upgrade 
since the airport was first built. The 
project will deliver a range of 
benefits, including:

•  widening George Bolt Memorial Drive 
to add high-occupancy vehicle lanes;

•  the construction of Altitude Drive which 
will provide additional roading capacity, 
allowing terminal bound traffic greater 
journey time reliability;

•  a new one-way loop road for traffic 
exiting the International Terminal; 

•  enhanced pedestrian and shared 
pathway links along George Bolt 
Memorial Drive connecting to the 
wider airport precinct; and

Annual Report 201921

AIRFIELD EXPANSION

The financial year 2019 also 
marked the beginning of our 
largest airfield expansion since 
the 1970s and the next phase of 
our infrastructure development 
programme. Over the next three 
years, more than 250,000m2 of 
land or about 30 rugby fields will 
be converted into new airfield at 
the western end of the airport, 
delivering an additional taxiway, 
extension of an existing taxiway 
and development of six stands  
for the parking and servicing  
of aircraft. 

The project will add more than 
18% surface area to the airfield 
pavement, improving aircraft 
movement and eventually linking 
to the future second runway.

Our largest airfield 
expansion since  
the 1970s

30An area of about 

30 rugby fields will be 
converted into new airfield at 
the western end of the airport

•  upgrading and installing new 

underground utilities to create a 
resilient, future-proofed network able 
to support the wider terminal and 
runway developments.

Auckland Airport is continuing to work 
closely with New Zealand Transport 
Agency (NZTA) and Auckland Transport 
(AT) to coordinate network operations 
and improve access to and from the 
airport, benefitting workers, travellers 
and freight movements. 

In collaboration with NZTA and AT, the 
first stage of the Southwest Gateway 
programme will begin in late 2019 and 
is due to be completed in 2021 with the 
following benefits:

•  A new rapid transit link between 

Auckland Airport and Puhinui Station, 
including widening SH20B to provide 
two new priority lanes for bus and 
high-occupancy vehicles;

•  A new bus and rail interchange at 

Puhinui Station, allowing quick travel 
to and from the airport; 

•  Fast and convenient 10-minute 
bus services to run between 
Puhinui Station interchange and 
the Airport; and

•  A shared-use path providing improved 
walking and cycling opportunities 
along SH20B.

Plans are also well advanced for a 
new six-storey car park to be built 
at the International Terminal, with 
construction expected to begin in early 
2021. The development will include 
3,000 car parks, including rental bays, 
electric vehicle charging stations, valet 
products and self-parking facilities and 
is expected to be complete in 2023. 
Construction of a new southwest 
Park and Ride facility off SH20B is 
also expected to begin in 2020, with 
stage 1 of the project providing circa 
2,000 new car parks.

Parking planning

A new six storey car park is to be built at 
the International Terminal, featuring 3,000 
car parks and rental bays, valet products 
and self-parking facilities. Construction is 
expected to begin in early 2021.

Annual Report 201922

Building in a digital world

Leading the way 
in infrastructure 
planning and design

Over the next two decades, Auckland 
Airport will deliver an infrastructure 
development programme that will 
transform our precinct and upgrade a 
number of key legacy assets, including 
the International and Domestic terminals, 
expansion of our airfield and substantial 
changes to the roading network. 

To manage the scale and complexity of 
the work ahead, we have embarked on a 
digital transformation journey to enhance 
our building programme and the way we 
manage our assets over their lifecycles, 
from early design through to end of life.

Over the past two years, Auckland Airport 
has trialled and adopted integrated 
Building Information Modeling (BIM) and 
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) 
software – leading-edge design 
technologies that have allowed us 
to start creating digital 3D replicas 
of our airport assets. 

Blending geospatial and engineering, 
architecture and construction data, the 
technology enables designers to work 
together throughout every phase of a 
project. It provides a complete picture 
of an asset, from its nuts and bolts to 
its steel framework, helping project teams 
to streamline processes and resolve 
complex construction challenges prior 
to building works beginning. 

We initially trialled the technology for 
the 36,000m2 redevelopment of the 
airside departure and dwell area of the 
International Terminal, and due to its 
success, we adopted the technology 
in full for the development of new gates 
located at Pier B at the northern end 
of the airfield. The initial challenge was 
to map the structure of the existing 
International Terminal, which involved the 
collation of existing 3D models, along with 
ground-based 3D laser scanning, to 
create a sophisticated replica. Designers 
and builders also contributed, modelling 
construction elements in detail, allowing 
the team involved to collaborate and 
analyse any issues in a digital world, 
without even having to leave their offices. 

With more than 200 projects planned over 
the next two decades, Auckland Airport 
has also used the technology to create 
a complex model of future construction 
projects at the airport precinct, called 
the ‘Capital Works Master Schedule’. 
The model is used to visualise complex 
sets of data in an easily understood 
manner. By linking 3D models to a time 
schedule and project costings, the team 
is now better able to assess workflow 
planning, logistics and other aspects 
of the construction process. 

Annual Report 201923

Delivering 
Planning
Building
Delivering 
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Building
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Delivering 
Planning
Building
Delivering 
Planning
Building

Members of our Airport Development and Delivery 
team Brian Rae (left) and Karl Fitzpatrick work on a 
3D model of the International Terminal.

Annual Report 201924

Tourism

Supporting 
sustainable 
growth and  
high-value 
tourism

Tourism is one of New Zealand’s most 
important industries and for good 
reason. The sector employs at least 
8% of New Zealand’s workforce and 
directly contributes $15.9 billion to 
GDP* – making it New Zealand’s most 
valuable export earner. 

Auckland Airport is committed to ensuring 
our tourism industry continues to flourish. 
We are working to support our tourism 
partners and airlines to attract high-value 
visitors from a diverse range of markets. 
As New Zealand’s gateway, we are also 
playing a leading role in connecting 
New Zealand to the world by developing 
a strong, sustainable and thriving 
aeronautical network. 

* Gross Domestic Product

Driving demand  
in offshore markets 

In the financial year 2019, Auckland 
Airport, continued to work alongside our 
partners investing in emerging and more 
established markets to drive growth and 
support airlines to operate sustainable 
air routes. The aviation market remains 
dynamic and we are focused on building 
a diverse network to build resilience. 

In the China market, our focus was 
on supporting airline partners with 
e-commerce, travel trade distribution 
and public relations activity, to attract 
higher-value independent Chinese 
travellers to New Zealand. In Australia, 
we continued to work alongside airline 
partners, Tourism New Zealand and 
regional tourism organisations, such as 
ATEED to encourage Australians to visit 
Auckland and the Central North Island 
all year round. In the United States, we 
focused our efforts on growing visitation 
from the eastern states of America. 
We recognise the potential of other 
promising markets, such as India, where 
we appointed a representative in the 
financial year 2019 to grow our interests 
there. We also continue to work with 
partners in South Korea, Taiwan and 
Indonesia to develop these markets. 

Working for New Zealand

Auckland Airport continued to work 
closely with industry partners over the 
period, sharing insights and analysis 
to help inform decision-making. This 
included supporting the development of 
the Government’s tourism policy, as well 
as a new industry strategy for the Tourism 
Industry Association: ‘Tourism 2025 and 
Beyond’. In the 2019 financial year, we 
also extended our support of tourism 
product innovation through our partnership 
with Eat NZ, and we participated in 
the development of a new tourism 
management strategy for Auckland – 
‘Destination AKL 2025’. 

Eat NZ

Annual Report 2019D
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New non-stop flights 
commencing 
November 2019 to 
Seoul to add 105,000 
seats and grow 
inbound leisure 
tourism

New Vancouver route 
commencing 
December 2019 to 
add 31,000 seats and 
contribute $38 million 
annually to the New 
Zealand economy 

Additional 95,000  
seats per annum 
commenced November 
2018, increasing  
trade opportunities  
in horticulture  
and agriculture

New service delivering 
85,0000 seats per 
annum commenced 
November 2018, 
opening up new 
regions of North 
America to non-stop 
flights to New Zealand 

ACROSS OUR 
AIRLINE PARTNERS

685,000

additional seats per annum

60,800

tonnes of additional 
international cargo capacity

Unlocking new routes and capacity 

Auckland Airport has experienced 
significant growth over the past four 
years, increasing from 19 airlines in 2015 
to 29 airlines as at 30 June 2019. We 
welcomed announcements and capacity 
changes from a range of airlines over the 
2019 financial year, including:

•  the introduction of a new direct 

route from Auckland to Seoul by Air 
New Zealand that will add 105,000 
seats and 4,855 tonnes of cargo per 
year, commencing in November 2019; 

•  new flights between Auckland 

and Vancouver to be operated by 
Air Canada from December 2019, 
adding 31,000 seats per year and 
650 tonnes of cargo;

•  the introduction of a third daily 

Auckland to Singapore flight from 
October 2018 by Air New Zealand/
Singapore Airlines; and

•  in November 2018, Air New Zealand 
commencing new direct routes from 
Auckland to Chicago and Auckland 
to Taipei.

These and a range of other flight changes 
across our airline partners resulted in 
685,000 net additional seats per annum 
and an estimated 60,800 net tonnes of 
additional international cargo capacity in 
the financial year 2019.

While our outlook for the 2020 financial 
year remains solid, our strong trend of 
capacity growth has slowed in recent 
times due to airlines adjusting their 
business strategies, reducing capacity 
and softening demand for travel to 
New Zealand in some visitor source 
markets, such as Australia, China and 
Japan. Hong Kong Airlines and AirAsia 
discontinued their New Zealand services 
in the year to 30 June 2019 and, from 
October 2019, LATAM Airlines will reduce 
its Santiago (via Auckland) to Sydney 
flights, from a daily service to four times 
a week. This change will coincide with 
LATAM commencing non-stop Santiago 
to Sydney services.

25

IN FOCUS: SUSTAINABLE 
TOURISM GROWTH

In the last year, over 21 million 
travellers passed through Auckland 
Airport – a number which is 
expected to double by 2044. 

The growth in tourism numbers 
will provide enormous benefits 
to New Zealand economically 
but at the same time it will 
also create challenges from 
a sustainability perspective.

Auckland Airport believes the 
tourism industry needs to better 
understand and manage the 
industry’s impact, to ensure it 
can continue to successfully grow 
without undermining sustainability 
and to continue to hold its social 
license to operate amongst 
New Zealanders. Otherwise we 
risk losing the support of our 
local communities, impacting our 
environment and visitor experience. 

Auckland Airport is playing a 
leading role in discussions around 
the future sustainability of the 
tourism industry, funding research 
that has proposed a new industry 
framework called the Sustainable 
Tourism Growth Monitor (STGM). 
The monitor suggests a broad 
framework for the tourism industry 
to measure itself on a range of 
factors, including infrastructure, 
congestion, the environment and 
community wellbeing. 

We believe there is an opportunity 
for the industry to work together 
to extend this research to create 
a robust STGM for the future. 
We are committed to collaborating 
with government and members of 
the tourism industry in the 2020 year 
to build on this work. 

Annual Report 201926

Property

Outstanding year 
for investment 
property 

The 2019 financial year was a record 
year for Auckland Airport’s investment 
property business, which now owns 
and manages one of New Zealand’s 
largest investment-grade portfolios. 
Our rent roll has increased 10.9% 
to $100 million, the portfolio value 
now exceeds $1.7 billion and our 
weighted average lease term is sitting 
at 9.38 years – one of the longest in 
New Zealand’s listed property sector. 

Growth continues to be underpinned by 
strong development activity. During the 
2019 financial year, new development 
projects were completed for EBOS 
and DSV Logistics, while 13 hectares 
of land was prepared and added to our 
development-ready reserves. The quality 
of our delivery model has also been 
recognised in both the property and 
architectural sectors. In 2019, we were 
awarded the Property Council’s 
Property Team of the Year Award for 
urban planning at The Landing Business 
Park, the NZ Institute of Architects’ 
Commercial Award for the Rohlig 
Logistics development and the DSV 
development was awarded Excellence 
and Best in Category at the 2019 
Property Council Industry Awards.

Portfolio

$1.7b

Investments under construction

$515m

Weighted Average Lease Term

9.38 
years

The development outlook remains strong. 
Currently, we have more than $515 million 
of pre-committed investment assets under 
construction, including the 85,000m2 
office and warehouse complex for 
Foodstuffs, a new office and control 
centre for Airways Corporation, plus 
standalone developments for Thrifty, 
Europcar, and ASX-listed Bapcor. We 
have also maintained our speculative 
building programme, with 11,000m2 
of new facilities under construction in 
Timberly Place. 

Our investment programme also includes 
the expansion of our hotel portfolio. 
Construction of the 5-star Pullman 
Auckland Airport Hotel, located adjacent 
to the International Terminal, has 
commenced and is our second project 
in partnership with Tainui Group Holdings. 
This is expected to complete in 2022. 
A fourth hotel, comprising a 146-room 
mid-tier hotel located within the Quad 
Office Campus, is also under way and 
this is expected to complete in Q4 2020.

Auckland Airport already operates two 
hotels inside the precinct: the Novotel 
Tainui Auckland Airport Hotel and the 
ibis Budget Auckland Airport. When the 
Pullman and our fourth hotel are open, 
it will make Auckland Airport one of the 
largest hotel operators (by number of 
rooms) in New Zealand. 

DSV Logistics – awarded 
Excellence and Best in 
Category at the 2019 Property 
Council Industry Awards

Annual Report 201927

People

An employer of choice

Auckland Airport employs more than 730 
full-time and contracted staff, and we are 
proud of our diverse work force and our 
long-term commitment to their safety and 
wellbeing. Our workforce has grown by 
more than 40% over the last three years, 
and we are working hard to create an 
environment where people want to work, 
providing new opportunities to develop, 
support and empower them. As our 
workforce continues to grow to drive 
our infrastructure programme, we also 
recognise that work-life balance is good 
for our people and we are reshaping our 
practices to meet the needs of a flexible 
modern workplace. 

In the year to 30 June 2019, we 
introduced a new Parental Leave Policy, 
offering parents greater financial support 
and flexibility through a wide range of 
key benefits. 

These include two weeks’ extra paid 
leave for the partner of a primary caregiver 
and up to 10 days paid special leave 
for a mother during pregnancy, allowing 
her time to attend special appointments, 
such as scans and antenatal classes. 

In addition to the existing government-
funded paid parental leave, we are also 
offering primary caregivers 80% of their 
base salary for a period of 18 weeks 
during their parental leave, as well as 
personal coaching before they return to 
work to help make the transition back as 
smooth as possible. Another key priority 
has been to ensure we are operating 
within a fair and equitable remuneration 
framework. Our talented workforce 
includes 45 ethnicities, and we believe 
the diversity of our people is one of our 
strengths. In the financial year 2019, we 
increased female representation in key 
positions across the business, including 
at Board level (38% to 50% increase year 
on year) and in our leadership team 
(12.5% to 22% increase year on year). 
Overall, the number of female senior 
managers across the business rose 
from 31% to 33%. 

We also recognise and celebrate 
the uniqueness of different cultures 
through an annual calendar of events 
and festivals and through sponsorship 
of community events, such as ASB 
Polyfest. Our people also continue to 
learn and be inspired by other like-minded 
organisations through our ongoing 
association with the Global Women’s 
Champions for Change programme.

Firefighters Sky Tower Stair Challenge

In the financial year 2019, we continued 
to focus on the safety and wellbeing 
of our employees, creating a workplace 
culture that supports people to stay 
well, both from a physical and mental 
health perspective. 

In the 2019 financial year, we registered 
a decrease in the number of recordable 
injuries (lost time, medical treatment and 
restricted work) amongst our people, in 
comparison to the previous year. This 
resulted in a reduction in our employee 
recordable injury rate of 2.2%.

We are pleased that proactive attitudes 
and increased staff engagement relating 
to safety were reflected in the number of 
safety observations and hazards reported, 
increasing 6.8% year on year. Looking 
ahead, we will continue to support our 
staff through our digital wellbeing 
programme Tracksuit, which offers 
a range of health information and 
challenges to engage our people and 
ensure their wellbeing is front of mind.

Annual Report 201928

OUR PEOPLE AND COMMUNITY:
Mana whenua as kaitiaki

OUR COMMUNITY:
Ara jobs and skills hub

OUR PEOPLE AND PLACE:
Being a good neighbour 

We understand that as a New Zealand 
business and employer, we must continue 
to develop our understanding and 
awareness of Tikanga Ma¯ori, particularly 
as we increase our engagement with local 
iwi and work to develop the diversity of 
our workforce. In 2019, members of our 
Leadership Team completed a specialised 
Indigenous Growth Cultural Capital 
programme for executives to enhance 
their understanding of mana whenua, 
cultural protocols and the importance of 
recognising indigenous employees. The 
wa¯nanga was facilitated by Indigenous 
Growth Limited at Te Manukanuka o 
Hoturoa marae – the marae located on 
the Auckland Airport precinct. 

We also embarked upon a design 
collaboration with iwi, as part of our 
departures project at the International 
Terminal. Te A¯ kitai Waiohua, Te Kawarau 
a¯ Maki and Makaurau Ma¯ori trust shared 
stories aligned with the overarching 
design narrative ‘a journey through 
New Zealand from the sea to the sky’. 
These stories inspired award-winning 
artist Dr Johnson Witehira to design 
contemporary manifestations that 
were interwoven through the fabric of 
the interior architecture in the form of 
routered relief, water-blasted etching 
and laser cut stainless steel inserts. 

Across the business, we have been 
working closely with mana whenua 
in relation to many developments, 
including our airfield expansion and 
the Northern Network roading project. 

Established in 2015 Ara, our airport jobs 
and skills hub, is a joint initiative between 
Auckland Airport, the South Auckland 
community, government agencies, 
training providers and employers.

In 2019, Ara was awarded the NZ Airports 
Association Community Engagement 
Initiative of the Year. Judges commented 
it was a superb example of innovation, 
providing benefits to the community and 
the airport. Ara continues to connect 
South Auckland people with training and 
employment pathways. Highlights 
for 2019 include:

•  210 job placements made through 

the programme; 

•  175 of these people reside in 

South Auckland;

•  784 people completed training 

opportunities offered through Ara;

•  696 participants engaged in 

training; and 

•  77 students from five local South 
Auckland secondary-schools 
graduated from a year-long working 
experience programme working with 
businesses within the airport precinct, 
gaining valuable skills and earning 
credits to support their NCEA* studies.

In 2019, Ara further strengthened its 
service relocating to new headquarters 
and establishing new partnerships. 
As Auckland Airport’s development 
programme continues to evolve, 
opportunities for job seekers have 
expanded beyond construction 
and building to include hospitality 
and logistics.

* National Certificate of Educational Achievement

Auckland Airport is committed to 
growing New Zealand’s success 
in travel, trade and tourism but our 
impact extends far beyond our financial 
contribution to the New Zealand 
economy. We continue to empower 
people through a range of community 
programmes in South Auckland and 
across wider Auckland. Highlights 
for the 2019 financial year include:

•  Ten Year 13 school leavers were 

awarded Auckland Airport Education 
Scholarships, including a financial 
grant, laptops and a mentor from the 
airport team to help kick-start their 
university careers;

•  Our people teamed up with staff and 
students from Tangaroa College to 
participate in our annual environmental 
coastline clean up adjacent to the 
airport’s runway on Manukau Harbour;

•  We several local organisations and 
events through our sponsorship 
programme, including the Counties 
Manukau Life Education Trust, ASB 
Polyfest, the Auckland Arts Festival’s 
schools’ programme, Firefighters Sky 
Tower Stair Challenge (Leukaemia 
and Blood Cancer Foundation), 
and the Second Nature Charitable 
Trust. The total amount of these 
sponsorships (including leverage 
funding) was $140,250;

•  We granted $30,000 to 30 community 
groups across Auckland. In addition, 
we redistributed $120,000 of donations 
made by generous travellers into charity 
globes in our terminals to 12 charities 
as part of our annual 12 Days of 
Christmas; and

•  In 2019 we also granted $345,781 to 

the Auckland Airport Community Trust, 
which distributes these funds to 
residents, schools, community groups 
and organisations living within the 
Trust’s aircraft noise area.

Annual Report 201929

Health & Safety 

 6.8%

Reporting of safety observations 
and hazards

 2.2%

Employee recordable injury rate

 41.3%

Passenger incident rate

Ara – Airport  
Jobs and Skills Hub

784

Training opportunities

696

Participants engaged in training

210

Total job placements

Environmental  
impact reductions*

 18%

Energy use per passenger

 46%

Waste to landfill per passenger

 33%

Carbon emissions per m2

* All environmental impact figures are  
in relation to our 2012 baseline

* Our science-based target: 45% per m2 
reduction in carbon emissions by 2025 
from our 2012 baseline

Auckland Airport  
Community Trust 

$345,781

Granted to community projects by 
the Auckland Airport Community 
Trust to support learning, literacy 
and life skills in South Auckland

OUR PLACE:
Environment 

This year we continued to progress our 
targets for energy, carbon, water and 
waste minimisation across our operations. 
As a founding member of New Zealand 
Climate Leaders Coalition, we are 
particularly proud of the progress we 
have made towards our new, more 
ambitious carbon targets, set through 
the international Science Based Target 
Initiative (SBTi) in 2017. We are now 
one of only 568 companies globally 
that have set targets through the SBTi 
commensurate with global warming less 
than 2°C. We have continued to advance 
one of our key initiatives to install ground 
power units (GPUs), allowing arriving 
and departing aircraft to use low-carbon 
New Zealand grid power rather than 
more carbon-intensive jet fuel while 
at our gates. We are delighted that 
our energy efficiency and low-carbon 
initiatives have resulted in us being a 
finalist in Enviro-Mark Solution’s 2019 
Excellence in Climate Action Awards.

SUSTAINABILITY GOVERNANCE:
Non-financial disclosure

We have a proud history of the 
voluntary disclosure of our sustainability 
performance. In the past year this has 
included the publication of our own 
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 
Report aligned to the Global Reporting 
Initiative (GRI) Standard as well as:

•  Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP): 

disclosure of progress on our carbon-
reduction targets and benchmarking 
against international peers. In the latest 
assessment we moved upwards in 
our ranking to a B, signalling active 
management. This is higher than the 
general average of B- and the Oceania 
regional average of C;

•  Dow Jones Sustainability Index: 

best-in-class benchmark for investors 
who have recognised that sustainable 
business practices are critical to 
generating long-term shareholder 
value. We were included in the index 
for the 7th year in a row;

•  FTSE4Good: a series of ethical 
investment stock market indices 
launched in 2001 by the FTSE Group. 
We are proud to have been included 
in the index since 2008; and

•  GRESB: an emerging index that 

assesses the Environmental, Social 
and Governance performance of real 
estate and infrastructure portfolios 
and assets worldwide. We have 
participated in the infrastructure 
assessment since 2017, including the 
new Public Disclosures Assessment 
in 2019.

Annual Report 201930

Governance  
and leadership

Seated – from left
Patrick Strange
Justine Smyth
Dean Hamilton
Standing – from left
Tania Simpson
Christine Spring
Mark Binns
Julia Hoare
Brett Godfrey

Board changes

Change of chair

Sir Henry van der Heyden

Patrick Strange

Sir Henry van der Heyden became a 
director of the company in September 
2009 and was appointed Chair in 2013.
Sir Henry officially retired from the 
Board on 31 October 2018.

Patrick Strange was appointed Chair 
of the Board. He has been a director 
of Auckland Airport since 2015. 
Patrick is currently chair of Chorus 
and a director of Mercury NZ and 
Essential Energy Australia.

Annual Report 201931

Company 
officer 
changes

New directors 

Dean Hamilton

Dean Hamilton became a director of the 
company after the 2018 annual meeting. 
He was previously CE of Silver Fern 
Farms and prior to that held senior roles 
for Deutsche Bank in both New Zealand 
and Australia, advising clients on a broad 
range of capital markets and mergers and 
acquisition (M&A) transactions.

Tania Simpson

Mary Liz-Tuck 

Jonathan Good

General Manager Corporate Services

General Manager Technology & Marketing

In October 2018, the chief executive 
announced the appointment of Mary-Liz 
Tuck as Auckland Airport’s new General 
Manager Corporate Services and General 
Counsel. Mary-Liz is responsible for 
leading the company’s key corporate 
functions, including legal, people, safety 
and public affairs.

Mary-Liz brings a strong background 
in the law as well as considerable 
commercial and operational experience 
having worked for Fisher & Paykel 
Appliances in operational, customer 
experience, quality, business excellence 
and legal roles.

Most recently, Mary-Liz was Executive 
Vice President, Business Excellence 
and Quality, which involved leading an 
organisational transformation programme, 
delivering important benefits to the 
business. Prior to these positions, 
Mary-Liz practiced as a lawyer for 
15 years, including with New Zealand 
law firm Harmos Horton Lusk and 
London based firm Freshfields 
Bruckhaus Deringer.

In May 2019, the chief executive 
announced the appointment of Jonathan 
Good as Auckland Airport’s new General 
Manager Technology & Marketing. 
Jonathan is responsible for the strategy 
and execution of technology and 
marketing programmes to improve 
customer experience and ensure 
operational excellence to meet Auckland 
Airport’s current and future growth needs.

Jonathan has had extensive commercial 
experience and held numerous leadership 
roles, specialising in the creation of strong 
teams and delivery of critical projects. 
Most recently, he was Chief Technology 
and Operating Officer of T&G Global, 
where he transformed technology and 
associated processes including the 
delivery of an online auction site and 
mobile applications. Before this, he led 
the transformation of RD1 into Fonterra 
Farm Source as General Manager 
Business and Retail Development. 

His background also includes working 
as CEO and co-founder of a technology 
start-up in the United States that was 
acquired by Ancestry.com, prior to that 
he worked for six years as a management 
consultant at McKinsey.

Tania Simpson became a director of 
the company after the annual meeting on 
31 October 2018. She is an experienced 
professional director and is currently 
a director of The Reserve Bank of 
New Zealand and Tainui Group Holdings. 
She previously served as a director of 
Mighty River Power for 13 years. She has 
experience leading Ma¯ori organisations 
and further supports Ma¯ori development 
as a trustee of Radio Maniapoto and 
Waitangi National Trust. 

Michelle Kong – Future Director 

Michelle Kong was selected to participate 
in the Future Director Programme in 
January 2019. She has an extensive 
background in infrastructure and strategic 
development with over 15 years’ 
experience in the telecommunications 
industry, prior to her current role at 
Fletcher Distribution as General Manager 
for Digital Ventures and Snappy. The 
future director participates in all Board 
and committee meetings but does 
not take part in the actual Board 
decision-making.

Retired director 

James Miller

James Miller became a director of the 
company in September 2009 and was for 
several years Chair of Auckland Airport’s 
Audit and Financial Risk Committee. 
James officially retired from the Board 
at the 2018 annual meeting. 

Annual Report 201932

Financial 
Summary

Underlying earnings  
per share

3.6%

22.8 cents per share

Our reported profit after taxation for the 
2019 financial year was $523.5 million – 
a decrease of 19.5% on the prior year’s 
reported profit of $650.1 million. 
Excluding the gain arising from the sale 
of our investment in North Queensland 
Airports in the prior year and fair value 
changes, our underlying profit after 
taxation for the 2019 financial year was 
$274.7 million, an increase of 4.4% 
on the prior year’s underlying profit of 
$263.1 million.

Revenue increased 8.7% to $743.4 million 
due to ongoing strong growth across a 
number of business segments, including 
retail, car parking and rental income. 
Aeronautical revenue for the 2019 
financial year was up 3.8% on 2018, with 
the growth in passenger numbers and 
aircraft movement partially offset by the 
reduction in revenue associated with 
lower aeronautical charges year on year. 
Operating expenses increased 6.3% 
to $188.6 million, in part due to higher 
operating costs for rates and insurance, 
as well as higher operating costs for asset 
management, maintenance and airport 
operations. Our earnings before interest 
expense, taxation, depreciation, fair 
value adjustments and investments in 
associates (EBITDAFI) increased 9.6% 
to $554.8 million.

Our total share of the underlying profit 
from associates was $8.2 million for 
the 2019 financial year, a decrease of 
$8.5 million on the prior year following 
the sale of Auckland Airport’s investment 
in North Queensland Airports. The 
underlying profit share from Queenstown 
Airport was up 7.9% to $4.1 million and 
the share from the Novotel Hotel was 
down 8.9% to $4.1 million.

The final dividend for the 2019 financial 
year is up 2.3% to 11.25 cents per share. 
It will be imputed at the company tax rate 
of 28% and paid on 18 October 2019 to 
shareholders who are on the register at 
the close of business on 4 October 2019. 
As a result, the total dividend for the 
12 months to 30 June 2019 is up 2.3% 
to 22.25 cents per share. Our 
performance in the 2019 financial 
year means that underlying earnings 
per share have continued to increase, 
up 3.6% to 22.8 cents per share.

The 2019 financial year saw the 
company make significant progress on 
the development of key infrastructure 
projects, as part of our plan to build an 
airport of the future. We completed the 
36,000m2 upgrade to our International 
Terminal departures area, delivering an 
improved experience for customers by 

offering a new retail and a food and 
beverage precinct and a new aviation 
security screening area. In addition, 
we completed major transport upgrades 
to Nixon Road and the Landing Road 
intersection, reducing travel times for 
customers. We also commenced work 
on two of our key anchor projects – the 
expansion of our airfield and the upgrade 
of our inner core roading network. 

The dividend reinvestment plan which 
provides funding flexibility to support 
our investment in new infrastructure and 
growth, continues to be welcomed by 
many of our shareholders. The dividend 
reinvestment plan will again be in place 
for the 2019 financial year final dividend, 
enabling shareholders to elect to 
purchase Auckland Airport shares 
at a 2.5% discount to market price, 
instead of receiving the dividend as cash.

The table on the following page shows 
how we reconcile reported profit after tax 
and underlying profit after tax for the 
full-year periods ended 30 June 2019 
and 30 June 2018.

Annual Report 201933

Underlying 
profit 

$M

506.4

16.7

-

-

-

-

(88.9)

(77.2)

(93.9)

2019

2018

Adjustments  
$M

–

–

–

0.6

(254.0)

3.8

–

–

Underlying 
profit 

$M

554.8

8.2

–

–

–

–

(102.2)

(78.5)

Reported 
profit  
$M

Adjustments  
$M

506.4

16.7

297.4

(0.7)

152.2

–

(88.9)

(77.2)

–

–

(297.4)

0.7

(152.2)

–

–

–

0.8

(107.6)

(155.8)

61.9

(248.8)

274.7

650.1

(387.0)

263.1

Reported 
profit 

$M

554.8

8.2

–

(0.6)

254.0

(3.8)

(102.2)

(78.5)

(108.4)

523.5

•  Consistent with the approach to 

revaluations of investment property, 
we also have reversed the revaluation 
of the building and services class 
of assets within property, plant and 
equipment for the 2019 financial year. 
The fair value changes in property, 
plant and equipment are less frequent 
than are investment property 
revaluations, which also makes 
comparisons between years difficult;

•  We have reversed out the impact of 
derivative fair value movements. 
These are unrealised and relate to 
basis swaps that do not qualify for 
hedge accounting, as well as the 
ineffective valuation movement in 
other derivatives. The group holds its 
derivatives to maturity so any fair value 
movements are expected to reverse 
out over their remaining lives. Further 
information is included in note 18.2 of 
the financial statements;

•  In addition, to be consistent, we have 

adjusted the revaluations of investment 
property and financial derivatives that 
are contained within the share of profit 
of associates in 2018; and

•  We have also reversed the taxation 
impacts of the above movements in 
both the 2019 and 2018 financial years.

EBITDAFI per Income Statement

Share of profit of associates

Gain on sale of associate

Derivative fair value movement

Investment property fair value increases

Property, plant and equipment revaluation

Depreciation

Interest expense and other finance costs

Taxation expense

Profit after tax

The following adjustments have been 
made to show underlying profit after tax 
for the year ended 30 June 2019 and 
30 June 2018:

•  We have reversed out the gain arising 
from the sale of our investment in 
North Queensland Airports that 
occurred in the prior financial year. 
This sale was a one-off transaction 
that does not reflect normal 
business activities;

•  We have reversed out the impact of 
revaluations of investment property 
in 2019 and 2018. An investor should 
monitor changes in investment 
property over time as a measure of 
growing value. However, a change 
in one particular year is too short to 
measure long-term performance. 
Changes between years can be 
volatile and, consequently, will impact 
comparisons. Finally, the revaluation 
is unrealised and, therefore, is not 
considered when determining 
dividends in accordance with the 
dividend policy;

Annual Report 2019Building
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Share registrar 

Link Market Services Limited
Level 11, Deloitte Centre
80 Queen Street, Auckland 1010 
New Zealand
PO Box 91976, Auckland 1142 
New Zealand

Email: enquiries@linkmarketservices.com
Website: www.linkmarketservices.co.nz

New Zealand telephone: +64 9 375 5998
New Zealand facsimile: +64 9 375 5990
Australia telephone: +61 1300 554 474

Annual Report 2019

This annual report covers the performance of 
Auckland International Airport Limited for the 
period from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019. 
This volume contains overview information 
and a summary of our performance against 
financial and non-financial targets for the 
2019 financial year. Our audited financial 
statements for the period from 1 July 2018 
to 30 June 2019 are contained in a separate 
volume, which may be accessed at 
report.aucklandairport.co.nz

2019 Financial Statements 

The 2019 Financial Statements are available 
on our website report.aucklandairport.co.nz 
or you may elect to have a copy sent to you 
by contacting our investor relations team.

Electronic shareholder 
communication

If you would like to receive all investor 
communications electronically, including 
interim and annual shareholder reports, 
please visit the Link Market Services website 
www.linkmarketservices.co.nz or contact 
them directly (details above).

Investor relations

PO Box 73020, Auckland Airport 
Manukau 2150, New Zealand
Telephone: +64 9 255 9276

Email: investors@aucklandairport.co.nz
Website: www.aucklandairport.co.nz 

Online report
View our interactive report at
report.aucklandairport.co.nz
It has been designed for ease of 
online use, with tablets in mind.

aucklandairport.co.nz

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