Aussie arrivals head for Taupō
Hamilton Airport Group General Manager – Aeronautical Growth & Marketing Michelle Nordermeer.
Direct flights from Hamilton Airport to Sydney and the Gold Coast are proving a winner with almost two-thirds of inbound visitors making their way to Taupō.
By Dan Hutchinson
Direct flights from Hamilton Airport to Sydney and the Gold Coast are proving a winner with almost two-thirds of inbound visitors making their way to Taupō.
Hamilton Airport Group General Manager – Aeronautical Growth & Marketing Michelle Nordermeer told about 180 delegates at Destination Great Lake Taupō’s Taupō Tourism Summit last week that 63% of international holiday visitors arriving through Hamilton Airport visit Taupō.
She says Melbourne and Brisbane are targets for future services.
The Jetstar services, which launched in June 2025, carried about 120,000 passengers across the Sydney and Gold Coast routes combined. About 40% of those passengers originated in Australia.
Michelle says the services are estimated to support 360 new jobs and about $45 million in new economic activity.
Conference host Steve Giles, who is also Taupō District Council events manager, pointed to the Supercars event as an example, saying Hamilton Airport's international services have made it easier to attract Australians across the ditch.
"I'm certainly loving the additional opportunities that Jetstar have offered to the regions since their arrival at Hamilton Airport. It's certainly been beneficial for the Supercars event here in Taupō."
Michelle says major events like Supercars strengthen the commercial case for keeping routes viable year-round, generating demand during softer periods when the routes need it.
The airport's analysis shows more than 60% of international passengers travel beyond Hamilton after arriving.
"Hamilton is the airport, the Central North Island is the destination," Nordermeer said.
Their data identifies a further 1.4 million international resident and visitor journeys each year that start or finish in the Central North Island catchment but currently route through Auckland.
Australia remains a focus for growth, but she also noted that Chinese tour groups are combining Australia and New Zealand in dual-destination itineraries, using Hamilton Airport as part of the journey.
Fewer than 30% of passengers on the Sydney and Gold Coast routes are travelling for a holiday, with the majority visiting friends and relatives, so growing the holiday share is the main opportunity for tourism operators Michelle says.
"The flights are there, the market is there, the tourism product is definitely there. The opportunity is to connect those three things more effectively."
She encourages regional operators to make Hamilton Airport visible in itineraries, trade conversations, destination websites, and convention bids.
"The more effectively we act like one visitor economy, the stronger the gateway effect becomes.”
When asked about the facilities available for travellers to and from Hamilton Airport, Michelle says they are hoping for a bus service from the airport to Hamilton City.
They have increased parking at the airport from 500 to 800 parks, however there are no cheap park-and-fly style long-term parking options like there are in Auckland just yet.