Air New Zealand has today announced record annual results as strong demand and low fuel prices helped the airline post earnings before tax of $496 million for the 2015 financial year.
The carrier saw year-on-year earnings jump 49 per cent with a statutory net profit after tax of $327 million – increase of 24 per cent from the previous year.
Air New Zealand’s chairman Tony Carter said over the past year an increase in capacity as well as cutting prices helped the airline post the strong figures.
"Our strategic initiatives over the past three years have positioned us well to take advantage of market dynamics which have contributed to these results," Carter said.
"We indicated at our interim result that lower fuel prices and current sales momentum have strengthened the company's outlook, and this has seen the delivery of a record annual result that our shareholders and staff can be immensely proud of,” he added.
The airline said it will focus on the markets in the ‘Pacific Rim’ to continue the growth.
“Next year will see further capacity growth in international markets as we look forward to new routes starting in December 2015 to Houston and Buenos Aires," said CEO Christopher Luxon.
“And while we are gearing up to launch these exciting new routes we have a team assessing potential new opportunities in Australia, Asia and the Americas,” he added.