Good morning. I'm Patrick Strange, Chair at Auckland Airport, and it's my pleasure to welcome you today to our 2024 annual meeting. And that includes people online and joining us on the live stream. With us today are my fellow directors, Christine Spring, Mark Binns, Julia Hoare, Tania Simpson, Dean Hamilton, Liz Savage, and Mark Cairns. Also with us is Grant Devonport, who is standing for election as a director. Grant will address the meeting a little later today, along with Mark Binns, Dean, and Tania, who are standing for re-election. We'll also, more importantly, be hearing from Carrie, our CEO, who you know, and also here is our Chief Financial Officer, Stewart Reynolds, and the other executives are all along the front, and our auditors, Deloitte. We have a quorum of shareholders, so I declare the meeting open. First, a few house rules.
Bathrooms are located at the back of the room. In the event of an emergency, just make your way to the ground floor via the stairs outside this room by the elevators and out the building by the door you came in. Anybody requires assistance, we'll have people there to help. Now, we know many of you will have some questions that we'd like to ask during the meeting. There will be full time for questions later. Those pertaining to the resolutions, we will ask for before the, they are voted on, and then we'll have a general questions session before the most important thing, the sausage rolls. As usual, all of the resolutions will be decided by way of a poll, and the polls will be administered by our share registry. The results will be announced via the stock exchanges after the close of the meeting.
Now, the notice of meeting was sent to shareholders on the 11th September, 2024 , and to the auditors of the company, and it was also posted on the company's website. The financial statements for the year ending 30th June, 2024 , and the audit report are included in our annual report, which is available online. Representatives of Deloitte are available here to answer any queries that might relate to audit matters. Following my address, Carrie will provide a review of the year, after which we will consider the motions and then have that question session. I am pleased to report on a second straight year of strong recovery in aeronautical activity and airline capacity connecting Auckland to the world.
We closed out the year to the 30th June, with airline capacity back at 91% of pre-COVID, and with that came stronger top and bottom line financial performance. In total, in 2024 fiscal year to June 30, passenger numbers increased to 18.5 million, up 17% on the year prior, and that represents 88% of the pre-pandemic figure. We processed 21 million passengers in 2019, which was the last full year before COVID. Our revenue was NZD 895 million, up 43% on 2023. Operating EBITDAFI was up 55% to NZD 614 million. Reported profit after tax was down 87% to NZD 5.5 million.
However, putting aside the impact of the government change in tax policy and how that appreciates depreciation and also property revalues and numerous other one-off items, our underlying profit was NZD 276 million, which was up 87% on the previous year. Earnings per share were down 86% to NZD 0.37, but consistent with the underlying profit, underlying earnings per share were up about 85% to NZD 0.1875. And reflecting those results, we paid total dividends of NZD 0.1325 per share. Now, we saw a strong lift in capacity, and this was particularly marked on North American routes, where we enjoyed a 48% increase in available seats. This strongly benefited New Zealand visitor market, with a 38% growth in North American visitors. Another very bright spot was connectivity with China.
With the return of Sichuan Airlines in April, six airlines now serve seven destinations in China, and seat capacity, actually, for China, actually surpassed that 2019 level by 2%, with a 13%+ gain in the final quarter alone. In total, we've got 27 airlines serving, flying nonstop between Auckland and 42 international destinations, so that's two airlines and two destinations up over the previous year. Quick show of hands, how many of you have traveled internationally from Auckland Airport in the last year? Yeah, it's a big number. It's great. I encourage you to keep doing it. It's very good for us. Our dedicated aero commercial team continues to work really hard to bring airlines back to Auckland, marketing to them, and then we support them to launch and grow their services. This is really important for the airport and for New Zealand.
Our experience is that choice in the market supports lower airfare prices, which drives increased passenger numbers, increased tourists. There are still some challenges, though. Although we're now sitting at about 90% of pre-COVID, we think it's gonna take a bit longer to get to that last 10% and then go beyond. Fundamentally, this is because worldwide supply constraints on aircraft availability. There just aren't enough aircraft. Airlines have a choice about where they fly, and we do have to compete really hard to ensure that they choose New Zealand over the alternatives. And the aircraft shortage is exacerbated by engine issues. And Air New Zealand have been really, I mean, it's just luck, hit particularly hard with both Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, and, you know, we'd love to see them get through that.
We have adjusted our operational spending and forecast to reflect that sort of slightly harder environment. Shortly, Carrie will outline in more detail the strong progress we're making to transform the airport to set it up for future generations, and as we make this transformation, we need to make sure our balance sheets stays strong, and we have the adequate funding to see our way through that investment, and also to continue the value-adding growth of our wider businesses, which have been a huge success for you, our shareholder. In line with this, we concluded a fully subscribed NZD 1.2 billion capital raise from institutional investors in mid-September, followed by an also oversubscribed NZD 200 million share purchase plan from retail investors. I hope lots of you took it up.
The offer price on both raises was NZD 6.95 per share, which was a discount of 7% to the ex-dividend adjusted last close price on the 13th September. And, you know, one of the real emphasis we had in raising that money was to minimize that discount. The investment community has provided very positive feedback on the capital raise and the business case which lies behind it. So the capital raise means we can deliver critical infrastructure to add capacity, but equally, and more importantly, to make the airport resilient. And it also frees us up to continue investing where opportunities arise to add value to our high-performing property business and the related investments.
The proceeds of NZD 1.4 billion will be initially used to raise net debt, while also giving us the flexibility to fund our planned capital investment program over future years, while borrowing at favorable rates, which our A- rating affords us. And that capital raise coincided with entering into a contract with Hawkins, worth around NZD 800 million, to manage the construction and delivery of the new domestic jet terminal, which will complete the integration of domestic jet and international services under one roof. Carrie will address our reinvestment program in much more detail, but I'll just make a few comments. The integrated terminal is being developed following a decade of planning and discussion with airlines, and it actually predates me starting at the airport, so that tells you something.
COVID delayed its execution, but it is now well advanced and not that well understood that the key driver of the need to get on with that is runway renewal work, which we need to be working on about 2030. We are still a single runway airport. It is planned work, which, Christine, was last done about, I think, thirty years ago. And we actually have to take the main runway out of service for a period to renew that concrete, and we then use the taxiway as a runway. The only way we can do that without severely limiting flights for Auckland for a period of about 18 months, and it'll be severely limiting, is to get the jets, the domestic jets, away from where they are in the domestic terminal.
They stick out too far, and we'd have to, we just couldn't get the throughput. So we really do need that work done by 2030. Unfortunately, Air New Zealand withdrew its previous support, and they had backed it, for the new Integrated Terminal on the basis of cost, and it was disappointing. But in the absence of a viable alternative, we have no option but to continue. But we continue to seek all the cost savings we can. Let me assure you, your board and management spend a huge amount of time looking for savings and efficiencies in the new build. But the one thing we cannot do is suspend the program, which is now well advanced. It's always easy to say why you shouldn't build something, and New Zealand, we've got very good at it.
Most of you have been aware that I've been intimately involved in major programs at Transpower and at Chorus. And believe me, at the time those were started, there was no lack of very informed and fervent opposition to both those investments. Time has proved both those programs to be immensely valuable, and so it will at the airport. I really applaud my fellow directors for their vision in advancing and sticking to the program. Construction of the domestic jet terminal, along with the critical upgrades to the airfield and runway needed by 2030, integrated baggage systems and associated facilities are all part of the about NZD 5.7 billion planned Aeronautical Capital Investment Program, and that's recovered over a long period through passenger charges.
Our aeronautical capital program and aeronautical charges are reviewed by the Commerce Commission, and they've published their draft report about two months ago, or three months now, where they considered our capital investment and the consultation underlining it, and their draft view was that it is reasonable and justified. They thought our WACC was too high, which is how we set prices, and we have submitted in depth, and we expect the final decision, probably not till May next year, possibly, Carrie?
Right.
Yeah, sometime in the first part of next year. The difference in view between our number and their numbers, principally around how the pandemic is treated, which frankly is new ground for everybody, so we'll just see where that ends up. Their final, as I said, their final view, which will be based on the consideration of our final submission and those of the airlines, is due at the end of quarter one next year. Now, I mentioned our non-aviation business. This was another strong year for the non-aviation business. We completed developments for the Reece Group and Hellmann, two specialized pharmaceutical facilities, and we have developments, I think, well advanced for IKEA and DHL. The new Pullman Hotel, 50/50 joint venture with Tainui, opened within walking distance to the international terminal.
Those of you, I mean, it's all been a bit of a construction zone, but I've spent a couple of days out there. The landscaping, et cetera, around there, when you next get out there, it really looks great. You know, you, someone who flies to Sydney and Melbourne and occasionally the States and things, I'm really proud of what Auckland Airport looks like. It feels like coming home. The new premium outlet shopping centre, Mānawa Bay, opened last month, creating 750 jobs and becoming New Zealand's first-ever 5-star retail facility. How many of you been out to Mānawa Bay? Quite a few hands. I have walked around it. I haven't shopped yet. Not my thing. With its distinctive architecture, the center's first 90 stores have already set a new standard for outlet shopping in New Zealand.
You know, we all know what the weekend of a new shopping centre is like. We put extensive traffic management planning, and the popularity that first weekend saw some disruption of traffic, for the first four days. Maximum delays, according to NZTA, who published it without our asking, was between five and 12 minutes. Look, every major shopping centre in Auckland has experienced traffic congestion way beyond that when they have opened. Our priority is always going to be airport operation and getting you to your flights on time, and we were determined to limit any disruption to this. We were a bit nervous because school holidays, which is a very busy time, was just a week or so after it opened.
But as anticipated and modeled, it settled into a regular pattern really quickly, and we got through the school holiday periods without any issues. The only thing that's tight is the parking, because too many people are turning up and they're staying too long. I think that's correct, Mark? But that's a good thing. But thank you for your patience, if you, if you did get held up there. To summarize the company's performance, it's been strong in the last financial year, and we are pleased with progress. And the board would like to thank Carrie and her team for their hard work and dedication in delivering these results. Now, I'll just comment quickly and turn to director appointments for Auckland Airport. On the 9th July, we announced the nomination of Grant Devonport to the board.
He was most recently chief financial officer of Australia Pacific Airports Corporation, which owns Melbourne Airport and Launceston, which will be very valuable experience for us to draw on. So he's standing for election today, and the board unanimously supports his election. We've also got a regular re-election of directors because it'll be three years, so we've got Mark Binns, Dean Hamilton, and Tania Simpson, all standing for re-election as independent directors in line with the NZX listing rules. Mark's been six years with the board. Most of you know Mark, extensive background in leadership of energy and infrastructure businesses, and he's chair of our Infrastructure Development Committee and a member of our People, Capability, and Iwi Committee, and the board unanimously supports his re-election. Dean's standing for re-election, also after six years. Once again, most of you will know Dean, too.
Significant financial markets experience and governance experience across infrastructure, healthcare, and retailing... and he chairs our very important Aeronautical Pricing Committee and is a member of our Audit Committee and the Safety Committee. The board unanimously supports his re-election. And finally, Tania is standing for re-election with the board. Tania has extensive experience as a long-standing director in the energy and Iwi enterprise sectors, and is well, well known for her work within Māori communities and much wider in commercial New Zealand. She's chair of the People Capability and Iwi Committee, and also a member of the Safety, Sustainability, and Operational Risk Committee. These names are getting long, aren't they? The board unanimously supports her re-election. As was announced in March this year, I will be retiring from the board, effective from the close of today's meeting, so I hope nothing goes wrong in the next hour or so.
And having worked with your new chair, Julia Hoare, since 2017 , look, the airport's gonna be in wonderful hands under Julia's stewardship, and you have a really great board. And I will say, ask Julia to say a few words right at the end of the meeting. Now, in looking forward in 2025, we are working hard to maintain the momentum for new international routes and to grow international visitors. Our focus is on helping retain New Zealand's attractiveness as a destination. This includes efforts to persuade the airlines, including Air New Zealand, but particularly those big foreign ones, to commit capacity to New Zealand. And this is especially important at the moment to support the return of travelers from across the Tasman, which is a bit soft. It was only about 83% of pre-pandemic levels at the end of June 2024.
Our friends in Australia are historically New Zealand's number one inbound tourist market, and I think we need to work really hard as an industry and a country to restore our attractiveness to them as a destination. We've got to realize they have a choice. They can fly other places, Bali and beyond, so we've got to get them back, and we're working very hard on that with tourism and the government, et cetera. Some uncertainty remains due to external factors, as I said, constraining the supply of aircraft, jet engines, and also continuing headwinds in the local economy have probably impacted passenger numbers, particularly domestically. We are reconfirming guidance of an underlying profit after tax between NZD 280 million and NZD 320 million for the current financial year, and capital expenditure between NZD 1 billion and NZD 1.3 billion.
So I'll now pass over to Carrie to give us much more insights on the factors driving airline capacity and our progress on mission-critical projects across the airport. Carrie?
Thank you, Patrick, and [Foreign language] . I'm very pleased to report to you on a year which saw a 17% growth in passenger numbers, and in which we made significant progress on major projects across virtually every part of our terminal facilities, the airfield, and the wider precinct. Now, with many infrastructure projects stalled or still in planning across Aotearoa, we are proud to be making tangible progress. In many instances, we've already improved resilience and/or the customer experience. However, we do acknowledge and thank our customers and aviation partners for their patience and understanding as we work at pace to make Auckland Airport fit for the future. Now, I'd like to provide a little bit more color behind the high-level aviation figures covered by Patrick. FY 2024 was a strong international story for us.
With the recovery in long-haul international capacity to 91% of pre-2019 levels, we saw a 29% increase in the number of international passengers using the airport, so that makes it 10.1 million. Now, the North American airlines were back in force with a total of 8 destinations in the United States and Canada, and as Patrick mentioned, the 48% increase in available seats from North America to New Zealand brought 38% more North American visitors here, and the good news about that is that U.S. travelers to New Zealand have the highest median daily spend of all visitors. They contributed NZD 1.4 billion to the economy in 2023, so I look forward to seeing those figures when they become available for 2024.
11% more Kiwis also went stateside, and they enjoyed a healthy 13% reduction in airfares compared to the year before, due to the increased airline competition in that market. Just as importantly, China is back. Six airlines now connect Auckland to seven destinations in China, and with the addition of two new routes, which included Haikou from Hainan Airlines and Hangzhou from China Eastern Airlines, seat capacity on routes to China between April and October 2024 is at 114% of 2019 levels, and passenger numbers are steadily following. Now, this is great news for our connections with New Zealand's largest trading partner. The India market was another big mover during FY 2024, as inbound visitor numbers increased by 60% during the year, with 72,000 arrivals.
Visitors from the Philippines also grew strongly by 59% to 23,000. Now, as Patrick mentioned, we're still working on the Australian market. Post-pandemic, many Australians have taken to long-haul flights to the north or visiting Bali. 1.3 million Australians visited New Zealand in the year to June 2024, representing only an 86% recovery of pre-pandemic levels. So we continue to work very hard with tourism industry partners to ensure that New Zealand remains appealing and of choice to Australian tourists. New Zealand's overall tourism has only recovered to about 80% of pre-pandemic levels, and according to Tourism Industry Aotearoa, that missing 20% means New Zealand's missing out on at least NZD 3.6 billion in GDP.
Now, our strategy is focused on building a better future, and that is to create a vibrant precinct of travel, trade, and hospitality that connects people and place. A place that contributes to the prosperity of the community and supports the wider economy. We know that aviation connectivity is crucial to New Zealand's prosperity and well-being, and it's a responsibility the airport holds dear as the owner and operator of one of the nation's most significant and strategic infrastructure sites that currently welcomes over 18.5 million passengers a year. Now, I'd like to share with you some updated information from a new and recent EY study on Auckland Airport's contribution to this prosperity and why that matters for New Zealand. The headline findings are that overall, the airport supports 25,000 jobs and contributes NZD 35.1 billion in economic output per annum.
We also act as New Zealand's third-largest goods port by value. So of that NZD 35.1 billion of economic contribution, NZD 26.9 billion of that is supported by international travel, NZD 6.8 billion is supported by domestic tourism, and NZD 1.4 billion of that economic output is supported by employment at the airport precinct itself. Now, if those big numbers are hard to visualize, another way to look at that is that every time you see an international flight coming into land, that's equivalent to NZD 1.4 million of economic output flying in, and it's not just passengers. The NZD 26.6 billion of New Zealand's trade that flows through Auckland Airport is strategically important. By value, we're the second busiest import channel after the Port of Auckland and the second most valuable export channel after the Port of Tauranga.
We move 19% of New Zealand's imports and exports by value, and around 75% of that air freight is moved in the belly hold of passenger planes. Now, the figures in our, on our economic contribution I've shared, highlight two primary reasons for our current once-in-a-generation investment program at Auckland Airport, and those are capacity and resilience. Domestically, we are at full at peak times, and for many of you that would have traveled, you would have experienced that in the current domestic terminal. While the current domestic terminal has served us well, it is almost 60 years old, and it is at capacity. We need to create new capacity and resilience to enable growth for Auckland and to benefit the wider domestic and regional aviation network. Without more room for jets at Auckland at peak, that limits growth on the whole network.
Our investment program is critical to New Zealand Inc. over the coming years because it enables the next steps in the airport's journey to accommodate 26.3 million annual passenger movements by 2032 to support NZD 55 billion per year of economic output. International movements are forecast to increase by more than 45% over that time, from 9 million to 14.4 million per year, and domestic movements are forecast to grow from 8.5 million to 11.9 million per year. Now, after delays due to the pandemic, we need this program more than ever to avoid major operating constraints that would have far-reaching impacts for the airport, airlines, and New Zealand across tourism, travel, and trade. Now, some airlines have been vocal in their view that the upgrades are costing too much.
However, airports are sophisticated pieces of infrastructure with many moving parts. We have to balance the high cost of infrastructure post-pandemic against the much-needed additional capacity that I've talked about, operational safety and resilience, and protect the airport against the increased frequency of adverse weather events like those seen last year. Alongside that, we'll see faster processing times, larger, modern, and integrated facilities and better services. The results of a survey released in May told us basically to get on with it. More than 75% of people surveyed want to see the airport development happen, with nine in 10 travelers wanting increased capacity to allow more flights and potentially more airline competition. Now, I've talked about the why of our infrastructure investment program, and now I'd like to touch on the how.
We currently have over 400,000 sq m of aeronautical-focused infrastructure in development across 17 airfield, transport, and integrated terminal project streams. On the airfield, we're almost halfway through our 250,000 sq m airfield expansion. This project is key, and it includes the delivery of vital stormwater upgrades to boost our defense against major weather events. By the end of the 2024 financial year, we'd completed more than 20% of our integrated terminal program, and today we currently sit at 23% completion. Auckland Airport is now the region's most active construction site, with 1,200 people working on projects to upgrade the airport. With the recent appointment of Hawkins, the next major phase of development involves expanding the international terminal further to the east to construct the new domestic jet terminal building.
It will feature a new head house and a 240 m long pier, with the facility delivering 44% more processing space for passengers. Alongside that, it will provide 26% more airline seat capacity and an additional 10% flexible seat capacity provided through bus lounge operations. Now, a key highlight for travelers will be a short indoor walk between the domestic jet services and international, and indoor being the key on that. The build is programmed to take five years, with the new terminal set to open to the public in 2029. Now, this is an investment for the coming decades and beyond, creating essential resilience, increased capacity, improved processing for domestic jet travelers and their baggage, and an all-around better experience for everyone who travels, visits, and works in our aviation precinct.
While the new terminal is being built for jet travel, how we cater for the future of regional travel and small aircraft operations is also top of mind for us. We're currently consulting with airlines on this, and we look forward to being able to update you once this work is complete. Now, this current period of transformation will inevitably cause disruption, and we thank everyone who uses the airport precinct for their patience. The outcomes will be worth waiting for. However, I'd also like to touch on some of the things we're doing to care for our customers in the here and now. While we build the new terminal, customers will need to continue using the existing domestic terminal for the next five years.
So we're also improving the travel experience there, from the front door to the gate lounge, by upgrading and renovating traveler facilities, including signage, bathrooms, help desks, and well spaces, to make trips more comfortable, along with improved Wi-Fi. Now, in April, we opened the ground floor of our transport hub, providing travelers with more spacious, covered public pickup and drop-off zones. Now, this allows the temporary closure of the inner terminal road to make way for upgrades to essential services and stormwater, as well as new public areas. Now, that's ahead of the eventual return of public transport and commercial drop-offs to that inner terminal road area.
Elements of the upgrade program on the terminal forecourt have been accelerated so that taxi and rideshare pickups could move closer to the terminal much earlier than originally planned, making it quicker and more convenient for customers to meet their ride. It was always in the plan, but what we heard from travelers is that they were looking for that sooner, that ability to access their ride was very important. Now, at the international terminal, our transport hub marks the biggest change to transport flows in 50 years and is a vital step towards making the journey from road to plane a more efficient and modern airport experience. It currently serves 10,000 vehicles arriving and departing with passengers each day through separate car, bus, taxi, and rideshare drop-off lanes.
The transport hub will offer four levels of parking and an additional 2,000 parking spaces above the public pickup drop-off zone. Now, the first upper levels are opening from this month, with the rest of the building progressively coming online before the end of this calendar year. Inside the terminal, our operations team is constantly working with airlines, ground handlers, aviation security, and border agencies to proactively manage and troubleshoot pressure points and ease congestion. Queue times for international arrivals in the 2024 financial year improved by 33% at the 95th percentile and 43% at the 50th percentile compared to the prior year. I'd like to take a minute to talk a little bit more about the airport's role as an employment hub. The Auckland Airport precinct supports the employment of over 25,000 jobs.
The airport itself directly employs 746 people, generating NZD 73 million in salaries and wages. A further 24,700 people are employed in over 250 businesses in 19 different industries within the airport precinct, generating NZD 1.4 billion in salaries and wages. This makes us the largest employment center in the region outside of the CBD. I'm particularly proud of the more than 4,400 students and job seekers we've assisted through our Auckland Airport Jobs and Skills Hub programs since 2017, most of who are from our own neighborhood in South Auckland.
Now, we've set a target to reduce direct emissions by 90% from 2019 levels by the year 2030, and we're already delivering some significant cuts, with a 25% reduction to our direct carbon emissions in comparison to our 2019 baseline. We operate New Zealand's largest air conditioning system, and our most significant decarbonization initiative involves phasing out gas-powered boilers in favor of energy-efficient heat pumps within the terminal, and this is well underway. We've also initiated generating on-site renewable energy with new rooftop solar systems on top of two of our newest buildings, Mānawa Bay and the transport hub. Now, as an airport, we are a relatively low carbon emitter in ourselves, but we recognize the impact that aviation in total has, and we have a role to play in the wider decarbonization of the sector.
Like a lot of things, this also begins with infrastructure. Airports need to ensure that we have the right infrastructure in the right place and at the right time to allow our airline partners to trial and adopt new technology. We've provided ground power units at our gates for aircraft to connect to and charging facilities for electric ground servicing equipment. The new integrated terminal provides more of this infrastructure, as well as reducing embodied carbon through design and delivering a 30% reduction in operational emissions. Now, we continue to work with the government and airlines on how we decarbonize aviation into the future, and a lot of that work is already underway across the sector. Now, for long-haul travel, which New Zealand is so reliant on, sustainable aviation fuel will be one of the key decarbonization tools for the future.
Auckland Airport supports the government's efforts to work together with Australia to work on a regional approach to increase the production and uptake of SAF or sustainable aviation fuel. Now, with so much going on across the span of airport development and operations, metaphorically building the plane while we're flying it, we have refreshed and strengthened our executive team. Susana Fueyo Suárez joined in February as Chief Infrastructure Officer, and Stewart Reynolds was appointed Chief Financial Officer in July 2024 , after acting in the role since December 2023 . Susana and Stewart join a strong management team overseeing multiple projects in a development period that is incomparable in our almost 60-year history. I'm pleased with the high level of female participation in our business, including at management and senior management levels.
However, we are still working to redress imbalances in remuneration, and this year saw the gender pay gap reduced a further 6% to 21%, compared to 27% in the previous year. Now, the success of the airport in delivering to our customers, our shareholders, and our ambitions relies on the leadership, capability, and passion of our people and partners, and I want to acknowledge the Auckland Airport team for their commitment and effort each and every day. They are an extraordinary group of people who care about what they do and the positive impact they have for our customers and the New Zealand economy. I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank the board, and in particular, Patrick, for his support and steadfast stewardship as chair. Now, if this were a rugby game, feels appropriate since we're at Eden Park.
If this was a rugby game, the commentator would say we have everything to play for. We have a strong board and a reinforced executive team, and after decades of plannings and with the capital secured, we are well into the execution phase of a significant regeneration of the airport. The onus is now on us to deliver, while doing everything we can to minimize the impact on our customers and airline partners, while keeping all of our people and contractors safe in a live operational environment, and we will continue to be very active in growing airline connectivity over the next year and beyond. We are passionate about the role of the airport in keeping our great country strong and connected for decades to come, and we are proud to be the team delivering this for New Zealand. Nga mihi nui. Thank you.
Thank you, Carrie. Now to the resolutions. You may ask questions on each matter being put to the shareholders in person or through the virtual meeting website. I'll ask for any questions for each director standing for election or re-election immediately after he or she has spoken. Again, I'd just ask you give your name when speaking to the resolutions and to confirm that you're either a shareholder or a proxy holder. There'll be roving microphones available to ensure your comments or questions are conveyed to everybody present. Just wait for the microphone prior to asking your question. Those online have the ability to ask questions and vote through the virtual meeting platform. The member of our legal team will read out those questions at the appropriate time later in the meeting so that everybody attending can hear them.
If you require any assistance, those online, just refer to the virtual meeting online portal guide or call the helpline specified. And we may amalgamate questions if we get very similar ones. If at the meeting you don't feel your question was addressed or you would like to discuss it further, please contact us via the investor page on our website. And those here, of course, the executive will all be around to quiz after the meeting. As I said, all the resolutions will be conducted by way of poll. If you are voting as a shareholder, proxy holder, or as a corporate representative, please use the voting paper handed to you at the registration to the meeting. And shareholders online will be able to cast their vote using the electronic voting card received when you got your online registration validated.
To vote, you just need to click Get Voting Card within the online meeting platform. You'll be asked to enter your shareholder or proxy number just to validate. Please then mark your voting card in the way you wish, for, against, or abstain, and once you've made your selection, please submit. Please click Submit Vote on the bottom of the card to lodge your vote. Even I could probably follow that. Please refer to the virtual meeting online portal guide, or use the helpline 0800 200 220 if you require assistance. Proxies have been received from about 865 shareholders for about 1.27 billion shares, which represent about 76% of the shares on issue. Now, shareholders, your company's constitution allows for a maximum of eight directors.
As I mentioned earlier, we have four directors offering themselves for election or re-election, so they're going to address the meeting first and take any questions. We'll then ask you to cast your votes. As usual, there will be the opportunity to ask general questions after we've completed voting on all the resolutions. Now, Ordinary Resolution One, Grant is standing as a new director, and he's not on your board yet. The board unanimously recommends shareholders vote in favor of Grant's election, and he is considered by the board to be an independent, non-executive director. Grant, I invite you to address the meeting. Yes, we'll make sure before you. Have the team got that? We'll need a little bit of light so we can see what they're voting for. That's a great input. Thank you.
Thank you, Patrick, and good morning, everyone. I feel extremely proud and humbled to be nominated as director of Auckland International Airport, and with your support today, I look forward to working with the board and management in delivering what is a very significant capital expenditure program to support the next phase of growth, not only in passenger numbers, but obviously also in uplifting the overall traveler experience. I believe I am well qualified to contribute with my recent role as Group CFO for Australia Pacific Airports Corporation, APAC, which, as Patrick said, is the owner of both Melbourne and Launceston airports. During my time at APAC, I was intimately involved in leading very large commercial negotiations across major airlines, property and retail customers, including Qantas and a new duty-free partner, Lotte, that we had last year.
I was also involved in steering major CapEx programs through phases of development, approval, and delivery, leading debt financing across multiple markets, up to NZD 5 billion across Australia, Asia, Europe, and U.S. Leading the technology, procurement, and safety functions as long as my finance portfolio, and undertaking significant shareholder and stakeholder management across debt investors, government, regulators, and suppliers and customers. But all this experience means very little unless you really understand how an airport works and how the airport community works together to deliver the ultimate enhanced traveler experience. So what was more important than my finance portfolio and the other portfolios I held, was my contribution to the operational and strategic contribution to the airport as well. During that five-year period, working at both airports, I certainly saw the very best and worst of times.
The best of times, pre-pandemic, pandemic, when we were taking upwards of 100,000 passengers per day through both airports. And then the worst of times, when we were lucky if we saw 500 passengers coming through the airport. And again, I helped steer the business through that very difficult time. I also took on my first governance role as an Australian-based director for a New Zealand-based logistics business called MOVE Logistics, which at the time had aspirations to move its expanded offering into Australia. But this expansion is no longer appropriate at this time, and therefore, I will not be standing again for re-election for a second term and will be standing down. So finally, in summary, I do believe I have the experience, the capability, but most of all, the passion to help this great airport through its next challenging growth.
I do thank you for your consideration today.
Just before Grant sits down, are there any questions for Grant? One in the front row here. Have we got ... Is the microphone on its way? We will need those lights turned up, team, please, so people can vote as they go through. Here we go. Let there be light. Okay.
Thank you. I'm Beryl Plummer. I'm a shareholder and also the Shareholders Association representative. I assume that you're Australian-based or Australian resident. What's your plans for attending virtually or in person for board and committee meetings?
Yes, thank you for that question. Yes, look, I'm not a great fan of being mobile. I like to be face to face as much as I can, so certainly, I'll work with Julia to work through the right timing, but I'd like personally to be involved at board meetings, face to face and the committee meetings as much as I can.
Thank you. And I think there was one more over here. Yes, ma'am.
Hello, my name is Eva Quiding. I'm a shareholder. May we get some insights into how Mr. Devonport's nomination came about? And the other question I have is, Mr. Devonport, with your-
... existing experience, what would be the top three suggestion or recommendation you would make, towards Auckland Airport, whether it's business as usual items or the current development or expansion projects that are in progress? Thank you.
I'll quickly answer the first one. I mean, we look at board planning and succession quite a long way out. So towards the start of the year, we actually talked as a board about, retirements coming up, including my own, and what skills we wanted on the board. So we do a search, really, quite an extensive search. And fortunately, we found Grant, and so we then nominate him for the meeting. We didn't appoint him as a director in the interim, so we're very lucky to get him, I might say. On the comment on Australian directors, we have two now, a very, very valuable, Brit from Brisbane, Liz. And look, Liz attends most of the meeting, almost all the meetings. It's, it's not very far to Australia.
Puts two more passengers through the terminal, so that's all good. So we really value and get full output out of them. And you had this second question?
Yeah, thank you. Probably a little bit presumptuous for me to say exactly what I would recommend for the airport, but clearly there are a lot of parallels between what is happening in Melbourne, with extensive terminal development and airfield as well. So... And obviously, a big property and retail portfolio as well. So I'm hopeful I can bring my experience to bear right across those areas and work with the board and management to determining those strategic priorities. Thank you.
Thank you. Is that enough light? Good. Thank you. Okay, I'd now like to move to Resolution two, the re-election of Mark Binns. Mark was appointed-
[audio distortion]
Ah, I'm sorry. I forgot to look at the screen. Grant, you aren't off the hook yet. Based on your experience as CFO at Melbourne Airport, which also controls Launceston and Tasmania, could you comment on whether he believes the proposed Tarras International Airport poses a risk to investor returns based on our current shareholding in Queenstown Airport? Sydney Airport is a one-airport operation. Does Chris believe it makes... I don't know where the Chris came from. Grant believe that it makes sense to own multiple airports, given the obvious competition issues? Look, I'll be frank, that's probably a pretty hard question. Grant probably doesn't even know where Tarras is at the moment.
No. No, actually.
So I will just comment. Look, we are not believers in Tarras. South Island has four international airports for 1 million people. And I understand their interest in pursuing Tarras, but our view and lots of analysis and my personal view is that Tarras will not get built. Just doesn't make any sense. I will comment on Queenstown. They have performed superbly over the last couple of years. Their relationship with their community has improved immensely. It's a high-performing airport, which we work quite closely with in terms of routes. So we feel very comfortable. We're not in the business of owning airports for the sake of them, but that is quite a strategic relationship between Auckland and Queenstown.
The one certainty is that all the premier traffic to Queenstown will be flying into the airport in the middle of town for as long as you and I are around anyway. Thank you. Now, the re-election. No more questions arriving. Good question. Now, to Ordinary Resolution 2, the re-election of Mark Binns, appointed director at our 2018 meeting. The board unanimously recommends that you vote in favor of Mark's re-election, and he is considered by the board to be an independent, non-executive director. Mark, it's out this side.
Thank you, Patrick, and, dear shareholders. Grant, Tarras is near Luggate, so that should help you. Last night, I was questioned by one of my fellow directors as to whether I'd prepared for today, and this is actually evidence that I did. But, actually, reading my notes this morning, I realized it was really somewhat wooden, so I will ad lib. So what criteria or qualifications do I have for re-election, for consideration by the people here, the shareholders here, for re-election? Well, I've got one that is a standout, and that is actually that I'm the only member of the board that attended the opening of the airport with my father in January 1966 . So they say that corporate memory is important. I guess I'm the embodiment of that.
But on a more serious note, a number of you all know that I originally had a legal background, but then spent most of my career in construction and heavy building materials with Fletcher Building in, shall I call them, happier days. I spent some 22 years there and was responsible for projects such as SkyCity, Hotel and Casino, Te Papa, Second Tail Race, tunnel at Manapouri, and this building that we're actually sitting in today. So I've got experience of large, complex projects. I'm not an engineer, I'm a lawyer, as I said, my background. But commercially, I've been responsible for a number of very large projects in the both commercial and infrastructure area in New Zealand and offshore. And I don't need to go on about the investment program that we're currently undertaking.
We're gonna spend something like NZD 2.2 billion just delivering the domestic airport and the domestic terminal and associated infrastructure between now and 2029 , when it is scheduled for opening. And we've got to deliver this during a period where the airport is obviously open and operating, and this provides, you know, huge challenges and constraints on our operation. So I think I bring a depth of knowledge in the area that can be a sounding board for Carrie and Susana and their team. And also, my experience allows me to keep a weather eye out for the problems that will inevitably occur in the construction process. They always do. The key is making sure you get on top of them early.
Secondly, I have CEO experience as the CEO of Meridian Energy, and I was responsible for the preparation and the completion of the IPO of the company in 2013 . I was there from 2012 through 2017 . So I understand what it's like to be a chief executive, and I understand the stresses and strains that come with the job. So that's me. I have been absolutely delighted to be a director of the company to this point. I hope I've made a good contribution, and I believe we have a fantastic management team and an excellent board, and I seek your support for that continuing. Thank you very much.
Are there any questions for Mark? I'll take that as a no. Okay, moving on to resolution three, the re-election of Dean Hamilton. Dean was appointed 2018 annual meeting, and the board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote for Dean. He's considered by the board to be an independent, non-executive director. Dean?
Thank you, Patrick. [Foreign language] , and good morning. My name is Dean Hamilton. Having joined the board in 2018 , I'm today seeking your support for re-election for a further three years. I've seen significant change at the airport in the last six years. The highs of a travel boom in 2018 and 2019 , and just starting to launch our major investment program. Into COVID, we went, lockdowns and only repatriation flights. We had to cancel or suspend all of the major projects underway. We were one of the first major companies in Australasia to raise new equity, some NZD 1.2 billion, that feels a long time ago now, to provide the buffer that we needed at the time of enormous uncertainty. We literally didn't know whether we'd be earning income again and at what time.
We effectively had no income other than our investment property portfolio, which highlighted to me very clearly the benefits of diversification by the directors and management who came before us. To coming out the other side of COVID, the board recruiting a new CEO in Carrie, after longtime CEO Adrian Littlewood, chose to retire. To invest in rebuilding our teams, which had run down to support increasing travel and trade, to working through the substantial capital plans for the next 5- 10 years and getting these underway, and only recently raising NZD 1.4 billion to help fund the much-needed new domestic terminal and one runway resilience programs underway.
I believe I've been able to bring my experiences to the table and make a positive contribution to the board and company over that period, bringing a strong focus on commercial outcomes, the discipline around our capital allocation and our required returns. I've chaired our Aeronautical Pricing Committee, which has involved balancing airline consultation with a need to invest to create a resilient and competitive airport for the next 50 years. Experience in capital management as we balance our debt, our equity, and our dividends. Experience and empathy as CEO of large organizations, having led Silver Fern Farms and more recently, Ryman Healthcare, both with over 7,000 staff. My role at Ryman has been as executive chair, an unintended and temporary role as the board has searched for a new CEO.
I returned to being the non-executive chair of Ryman in November, with a new CEO starting in a couple of weeks' time. It's fair to say I'm looking forward to that. I appreciate the responsibility we have as directors in representing you, the shareholders of Auckland Airport. I'll be honored to have your support to continue in that role. [Foreign language] , thank you.
Thanks, Dean. Any questions for Dean? There being none.
No, there is.
There's one over here.
A couple over here.
Two over there by the column.
... Patrick, while we wait for that, just a, administration note. I will read out all the questions that have been submitted online at the end of each of the director-
Okay.
Director speeches.
Eva Quiding, shareholder. Mr. Hamilton, with your chairing the Ad Hoc Aeronautical Pricing Committee, I don't know how long the committee's been ongoing. What would be the two things you would do differently in any aspect?
Fair question. I think the ad hoc nature means it's not a permanent committee. The way it works is, yeah, every five years we go through a repricing, and so we tend to stand up that committee 12-18 months before that new period, given that we need to go through consultation and lodge with the Commerce Commission and go through that process. And then we stand it back down, and then we stand it back up, hence why it's not like a safety committee. Look, I think it's been a challenging committee. It's, I've observed the tail end of the last one, and I chaired this one. It's a period of confrontation with your major customer.
It happens every period, which is, it's disappointing, but that happens around the world. Inevitably, there is a difference of opinion around the pace and scale of capital and the charging for that, and you have a divergence of opinion for a period with your major customer. So, yeah, I think we have consulted extensively through that period with them. We ultimately came to a different landing, having, at one point, had a consensus. But, as Patrick elegantly said, we ultimately had a different view around the cost to build and the scale of what we're to build. As chair of that committee, would I do anything different? I don't think so. I think there's an air of inevitability that you're gonna have a difference in opinion.
But you know, it's they are our key customer. It's critical that we rebuild that relationship, and management and the board is continuing to do that. So nothing major I would do differently if I had the opportunity to chair it again.
I think there was... Was there one more question?
He was pointing with me, I think.
Okay. Thank you, Dean. Moving on, resolution for the re-election of Tania Simpson, Resolution Four. Tania was appointed as a director at our 2018 annual meeting, and the board unanimously recommends that you vote in favor of her re-election. She's considered to be an independent, non-executive director. Tania?
[Foreign language] . Sincere greetings to everyone present here today and to those who, who have joined us online. I'd like to thank you all for your time, your engagement, and your ongoing support of Auckland Airport. It's been an absolute privilege to serve as a director on the board over the past six years, and I stand before you today to seek your continued support for my re-election. For those who don't know me, my early career was in the public policy area in housing, forestry, and Māori development. I worked in central government for a number of years and then left Wellington to establish a consulting company, which eventually grew to a team of 30 staff, based first in Wellington and then in the Waikato.
I later transitioned into governance, and I've been involved with a range of both public and private and not-for-profit organizations. Currently, I'm a director of Meridian Energy and Waste Management New Zealand, and I will soon be retiring from the board of Tainui Group Holdings after a maximum term of nine years. As I look back on my time with Auckland Airport Board, I'm reminded of the incredible resilience and adaptability that Auckland Airport has demonstrated in navigating the challenges of these recent years. We've weathered the storm of the global pandemic, we've adapted to the new realities in global travel, and we've repositioned to embrace a future filled with new opportunities.
I'm proud to have been part of this very strong team of governance and management that's guided the airport through these challenging times, while always keeping the long-term vision for sustainable growth, engagement, and operational excellence at the heart of decision-making. During my time so far, I've contributed my skills in the areas of governance, community, and an understanding of our unique cultural heritage to ensure that Auckland Airport's not only a global gateway but also a place where the values of all of our communities are respected and reflected. With a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, I've been pleased to support Auckland Airport's approach to reducing its environmental impact and embracing cleaner solutions for the future.
However, the work continues, and I believe Auckland Airport is in a strong position to continue to innovate and grow in a way that benefits our shareholders as well as our stakeholders, our country, our customers, mana whenua, and the communities that we serve. We need to be leaders in sustainability, efficiency, and inclusion, ensuring that Auckland Airport continues to thrive as a key asset for New Zealand and a symbol of excellence in global travel. In seeking re-election, I bring an understanding of the complexities and the opportunities ahead, as well as a commitment to continued collaboration with our partners, employees, and stakeholders. I also bring a passion for ensuring that Auckland Airport is a leading icon for Aotearoa, economically, socially, culturally, and environmentally.
I've served both as chair of the People, Capability, and Iwi Committee and as a member of our Safety and Operational Risk Committee, and these are responsibilities that I take very seriously. In the People Committee, we've continued to evolve our remuneration disclosure to meet the expectations of shareholders and current best practice in this area. Practice continues to evolve, and I note from some of our shareholders that they would like more disclosure around some of the STI metrics, and this is something we'll take account of moving forward. I would welcome your support to continue as a director of Auckland Airport as we move into our next phase of development, growth, and innovation. I thank you for your support of the company, and I look forward to continuing the journey with you. [Foreign language] .
Are there any questions for Tania? Thank you. I now move that Grant Devonport be elected as a director, that Mark Binns be re-elected as a director, that Dean Hamilton be re-elected as a director, and that Tania Simpson be re-elected as a director. Now, Lou, are there any questions from online?
Yes, there are. This is a question for Tania and also for Julia. As the Chair of the committee, which deals with remuneration matters, could Tania please comment on whether she would support putting the remuneration report up for a non-binding vote at the next year's AGM, as is required by law in Australia? As the incoming Chair, could Julia Hoare also comment on this issue and at least undertake to seriously review the matter? What harm is done from asking your shareholders what they think about our remuneration policies? Not doing this makes New Zealand look like a governance backwater, and this is a question from Stephen Mayne.
I think I'll just refer that to Julia. I'll have a comment as the outgoing chair. It is not something we believe is good governance in New Zealand. It's not required under the NZX, and certainly to this point, the board does not support putting remuneration matters out to a non-binding vote. Australia is a different regime, and we respect that. Julia?
Thanks, Patrick. Look, I similarly agree with Patrick's views, but as Tania mentioned, we are really focused on making sure that we try and ensure that our disclosures are really open and transparent to all of you as shareholders. Patrick and I have had quite a number of sessions with investors over the last couple of weeks, with suggestions as to how we might think about improving our disclosures and continue to evolve those. Tania and I have already discussed that, and we've agreed with a number of those investors that we will loop back to them and talk about how we'll get their feedback and how we'll look at evolving our disclosures even more as we move forward. So that's really the plan for FY 2025.
Thank you. Any more, Lou? I just will get finished. Just hold a minute, we'll bring a microphone over here. Lou?
We do. This is a submitted question from Soledad Hubbard in relation to Dean's re-election, and the re-election of all the other directors. Perhaps it would be good to update the board of directors profile with the current list of companies by bullet points. This will show transparency of active involvements in other entities. The list appears to be out of date. It should be updated, as the board is asking for re-election. It should also be reported, the total number of companies a director may have. It may imply not full disclosure.
The annual report includes full disclosure of people's commitments and board memberships. I'm not sure if that's updated on the website as we record the changes, but Julia, I'm sure we could look at whether we should be updating the website. I'm happy to commit to looking at that.
Yeah, happy to take that away. We'll definitely make sure that the website actually reflects the board's interests. At every single board meeting, the board's interests are circulated to the entire board, and we have to confirm that that is correct. So it's not that difficult for us to make sure that we flow that through to the website. So I'll ensure that that is happening, if it is not already.
Good question. Thank you. Lou?
The next question is from Soledad Hubbard in relation to, disclosure of directors' activities. Is it possible to be disclosed how many directors were in active roles as a CEO and director during this financial year? What is the rate of attendance of directors at committees and board meetings?
Look, as was fully disclosed to the market, Dean, at the sudden exit of the Ryman chief executive, Dean came to me and said that, you know, in the situation they were in, he needed to act as a executive chair, I think it was, Dean, for that period, and that was fully disclosed. I can assure you Dean stayed in touch and committed, and actually, while he refused to take any rem through that period, though he was entitled to it, he probably did more work. And through the capital raise, he probably doubled down on even that. So we're a small country. The situations like that sometimes arise. That's the only example of anybody being any director being involved as a CEO of a company, of any size anyway.
Might be small, non-listed companies or organizations. Thanks for the question.
The next question is from Stephen Mayne: Dean Hamilton was on the board when we did our emergency capital raise shortly after COVID hit in 2020 , which ambushed our biggest shareholder, City of Auckland, and diluted them down from 21.4% without compensation. We seem to have learned nothing and did another NZD 1.2 billion placement this year, which again diluted City of Auckland ratepayers without compensation. Why didn't Dean and the board support pro rata renounceable capital raisings, which compensate non-participants and treat all shareholders equally and fairly?
Perhaps I'll have a first crack at that one. Dean might want to comment. We looked very closely at the structure, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. We, like other companies, Infratil, notably before us, chose to do the placement and retail offer we did, with a view that it would minimize the discount, which it did achieve. We got a very good result. The City of Auckland, I actually did talk to the mayor after it, and he complimented us on the raise. There are pluses and minuses in all these structures, and renounceables have some fishhooks, too, with the time that the offer's open and the uncertainty. We chose, on advice and unanimously as a board, to go the way we did, and it turned out extremely well and dilution was minimal.
Dean, do you want to comment at all?
Good summary, Patrick.
Okay. Any further ones, Lou? Is that it? There was one here. We'll take this one while Lou's interrogating her monitor.
Good morning, John Clearwater, shareholder. Is there any evidence that the engine problems that have been encountered by the two major producers of aircraft engines in the world are, at least in part, due to the fact that these engines are exerting their maximum takeoff power as they take off from Auckland Airport through heavily salt-laden air?
Look, that's a general question. We'll get it now, but any other general questions we'll take later. I would say no, but I've got the expert here, someone who served for 18 years at Air New Zealand.
If I could comment on with the... Can you hear me okay? Yep, great. On that basis, those engine issues that you're seeing run through both with Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce in particular, a majority, a large portion of airports globally are, to your point, around, ocean-based. But all the work at the time that I was involved, there wasn't any correlation to that being a cause of the issue.
It's a universal problem, unfortunately. Okay, any... That's good. We'll, we'll move to Resolution five. Lou, I'm assuming you didn't find any more?
Correct. No more online questions.
Thank you. Resolution five is that Deloitte is automatically reappointed this year as auditor of the company under Section 207T of the Companies Act, and I move that the directors be authorized to fix the fees and expenses of the auditor. Are there any questions on that? Thank you. Now, we'll move to the poll. We'll now conduct the polls, with the lights on, in respect of those motions. The poll will be administered by our share registry, and they will act as scrutineers. Please complete your voting paper by ticking for or against or abstain. If you have any difficulty, just put your hand up, and someone will come around to help you.
For those online, there are the help mechanisms, and our executives will now start to move through the room and collect your voting papers. As I said earlier, the results will be announced to the NZX later today. Now, while they're doing that, we move to the most important part of the meeting, ahead of hot sausage rolls. I'd now invite shareholders to raise any questions or comments or discussion, whether they're related to the presentation or just financial comments, the annual report, or any matter about the governance or management of the company. Again, shareholders, there'll be questions here. When you just identify who you are. Now there will, after this, be some time. Please buttonhole directors. I think we've got black badges on. What color is yours, Mel? You black, too?
I'm black as well.
And the executives, more importantly, and you get clearer answers, are over there. Okay. There was a question down here somewhere, I think.
Hello.
There we go, standing up.
Hello, Andrew McKenzie, a proxy holder. Just wondering around the Commerce Commission, obviously, you've talked about a difference in WACC rates, from your perspective versus the commission. I guess worst case is, if it gets to the commission, one, what would be the expected impact on the underlying profits?
Well, first of all, they will come with a final decision. We will consider that. We have said we will consider adjusting our prices if there's a material difference, which we have done in the past. Look, I don't have it at the tip of my tongue 'cause we don't know within a band, you know, how big the gap if there is one, will be, so it's a bit hard to answer that question. But I'd encourage you to perhaps buttonhole Stuart after the meeting. He's got a wry smile on his face, and he can give you a range, if that's okay.
Thank you.
We won't get the wrong answer out ad libbing. Next one.
[Foreign language] , Joshua Patterson, shareholder. Just a quick question. You mentioned you talked about international, strong international demand, but also that full capacity in the domestic network. Once the integrated jet terminal opens, does the airport forecast increased domestic competition, say, among new airlines or increased frequency routes?
I'll throw that one to Carrie. There you go.
Absolutely. In my speech, I referred that the latest EY report we looked at by 2032 expecting total passengers to reach around 24 million in that time. Obviously, that's not splitting out domestic, but we do expect that growth. Yes, what that will provide with 26% more capacity, that will not only deliver to the current operators future growth, but the opportunity that you have a viable possibility of alternative domestic operators absolutely are part of that. And also, the domestic terminal, the way that we've designed the pier, is that you can also combine the smaller jet aircraft, like A320, but you can combine the gates to also serve the likes of 787 aircraft as well to give us kind of ultimate flexibility should we need that in the future.
Thank you. While we're finding any more on the floor-
Just here.
Okay.
Patrick on the right.
A few.
Okay, go for it, and then we'll go to the back.
Ivan Peryer, shareholder. I'm sure you remember the day when the departure area was unusable because of the volume of water. What remedial action has been taken, if any?
Great. Kerry?
I might stand up because you can't see me if I stay seated over there. Significant action's gone underway. I was referring to the airfield, so we are putting in a Wetland bio-Coupled Biofilter stormwater, the largest and first of its type in New Zealand. We are also adding 3.5 km of stormwater underneath that airfield, of which half of it is 1.8 m in diameter. So that 100 or so ha area, which contributed to that flooding event you referred to, that is all being addressed, and we expect that quarter three next year to be fully operational, as well as a number of procedural changes that we've made as well.
So that will set us up for any future severe events that might occur, and we call it upsized the pipes, if I use a colloquialism, to ensure that we are set to avoid that in the future.
Based on what you said, I assume it will never happen again.
That is what we are working to deliver on the basis of ensuring that the stormwater. We have multiple stormwater ponds, but we are investing to absolutely avoid that. I definitely don't want a repeat.
Thank you for that. A quick, supplementary little question: My favorite airline is the Emirates A380.
Mm-hmm.
I loved the day when three of them were flying in daily-
Mm-hmm
... to Auckland.
Mm-hmm.
There's only one now. We've listened all the optimistic comments made, obviously, by the directors.
Mm-hmm.
Why has this happened? Because I'm sure Emirates are happy because they're not paying landing dues like they had in the past.
Great question, and we work incredibly hard. On the break, Scott Tasker, who's our Aero Development, actually has just returned from the Middle East two weeks ago. The conversation, and Patrick alluded to it in his speech, Emirates is keen to get to a second double daily. But globally, the production and access to aircraft and supply chain parts is a problem that all airlines are facing. So what we're hearing is New Zealand remains an attractive destination. They do want to return, but for some of them, they are saying it's another 12-18 months before they're going to have the fleet, the aircraft, and the supply. So, we are chasing it hard, because I agree with you. We have the capability, and we want those three A380s back to New Zealand.
Thank you.
There's one at the back here, and then I'll take one of the online, online ones. See at the end.
John Hume, shareholder. The visas are currently costing NZD 35 per person, and the government's talking about turning that up to NZD 100. How is that going to help you attract more people to come to New Zealand?
Yeah, it doesn't affect Australians, fortunately. But, we do not agree with. We don't think that is the right answer. And in fact, when you look at what that visitor brings in and their GST take, you know, people say tourists don't pay their way. Let me tell you that these guys spending in hotels and, you know, on trips and everything, 15% every time, and also part of their airfare, goes straight to the government. In GST, they more than pay their way, and I think we'll be encouraging the government to take a constructive, long-term view of the value of tourism. And I think, those sort of fees will then come into question. Good question. There is, one question on-
There's one here.
I'll just... If I can wait a sec, we'll do the online one, which is for Carrie. You talk of a vibrant precinct for travelers. If you exit the terminal building and walk around in circles to find a taxi, clearly something isn't working. What's the plan to fix that?
Yep, great feedback, and something that we are acutely aware of. We're aware. I referred to building the plane while you're flying it. We have a construction zone at the airport that and we've worked very hard to get those movements and signage and direction right. Clearly, we haven't gotten it right each time. We've recently moved. For those of you that may have traveled, you needed to walk on the other side of the transport hub to get your taxi pickup. And for a number of people, that was challenging for mobility. We introduced mobility assistance carts to help people with that.
We've just, a couple of weeks ago now, opened a taxi that as you walk out arrivals, you exit to your left, and it's about 120 m to get to your, taxi or rideshare. But I don't think we've nailed things like way-finding signage, so we've spent a lot of time, over the last couple of weeks walking through to get that right. We're conscious that it does keep changing and moving, and so it's incumbent on us to get that right. The future state, the long-term state, will have that those will be, again, that commercial lane, that inner terminal lane that used to be right in front of the terminal, will reopen. But at the moment, it's a construction site that they're having services and utilities, and elements being laid in that.
The short term, short to medium term, we is ensuring that we have got the signage and communication on that, so that is an active place. But the location of the taxi and rideshare, now, as well as the drop-offs and the transport hub, hopefully, in the changes we've made in the last couple of weeks, will certainly assist with that. But we will continue to monitor it and make improvements as required.
Thank you. Now, Corie, lovely to see you.
Corie Van Camp, shareholder. Actually, that is great, because that leads into what I was going to ask. The last time I went out, of course, I was able to walk out the door and get a taxi, and it's all changed since then. I'm hoping to go back soon. But I wonder, if I go to your website, could I pick up a map of the daily changes for all the lanes and all the different places that you're supposed to go? Could I pick up a map that's printable, look at it before I go out there, before I drive out there or to go to Mānawa Bay? How do I know where any of this is without a map?
Scott has just been nodding, so the answer is yes.
If I go to your website, I can pick up a printable map of-
Mm-hmm.
What's out there right now?
No, if I, if I could jump in there. The reason he's nodding is, we are looking and we are exploring things, whether it be QR codes or things, because it is, to your point, with the construction program, from, you know, every month or three months it will change. And so if you're a traveler, it can look very different from the first time you were there to the next time. So we are looking at ways of how can we provide real-time information, whether that be through the website, through an app, through QR codes that you can scan and things. So we haven't got that, but work is underway to understand how we can do that.
Because we understand if we're all creatures of habit, if I'm used to driving in and turning right, and now I can't turn right, that creates anxiety for our customers, which we don't want. So that is. There isn't a place that will give you a real- time on our website at the moment because of the speed of that, but we are working very, very hard to get to a point where we do have that.
Surely, even once a week, it wouldn't change much. If you did it once a week and you had an updated map, so when we drive out there, we're not going to get into the wrong lane.
Yep, that's great feedback.
Okay? Thank you.
We'll take that away. Thank you.
Question over here, and one at the back. And I think there's three on that side, so there'll be two at the back then.
Lynn Webber, shareholder. As part of your future-proofing, have you thought about the possibility that there may, in the future, be a rail link, so you've actually left a bit of land for the track if it will happen? And have you also considered trying to press for getting the heavy rail link between Manukau and the airport, which you already have the land, it's only about 2 km or so?
Two answers to that. Yeah, light rail, all those things. Yes, we don't know whether it's coming, but we have absolutely set aside space for it, so that's all. And heavy rail, actually, from Puhinui Station, there's a. I don't think heavy rail will come in, but from Puhinui Station, which is just to the east, there is a, I think, every 10-minute bus, isn't there? And which runs in a high-density lane, so it has a special lane into the airport. When they replace Puhinui Bridge in time, it'll be even better. Yeah, I know, so, we're constantly working and looking a long time out for those things. There was one at the back?
Morning. My name's Shane Penny, shareholder. I like what you guys always talk about Auckland Airport, but my question is, are we ever gonna have a meeting like what we're having today out there in the future? That's my question. [Foreign language] .
Yeah, I smile at that one, 'cause you and I both. I said a couple of years ago that I was looking forward to holding a meeting at the airport. The vast majority of shareholders came back, and they said they preferred it here 'cause it was easier to get to. So that's one for Julia to navigate over the next few years, and while construction's going on, it's a little bit hard, but yeah, great question. So I'm in your camp, but I was outvoted. Don't want them all. There was another question at the back there, I think. Is that right? There's a microphone coming, so just so everybody online can hear.
[Foreign language] , everybody. Peter Meusburger, shareholder. Light or heavy rail has been answered. Thank you.
Thank you. Okay, there's one online from Stephen Mayne. I think this is probably the third or fourth of it, so perhaps this will be the last one from Steven. But he's very welcome to contact us and, and always happy to talk. But his question is: Jarden and Macquarie were paid a juicy, is his term, financial term, 1.3% base fee to manage the discounted placement, which was money for jam. That's a personal view from Steven. Given that they were on risk for barely two days, did we run a proper tender before agreeing to pay this NZD 15.6 million base fee? And did we end up paying the additional 0.3% incentive fee?
If so, what work, I'm reading it all out, did they do to justify a NZD 20 million fee for clipping the ticket on an easy raise, which diluted the shareholders, particularly given that you scaled back the NZD 200 million shareholder placement, repeating the 2020 shafting? I'll get Stuart to answer the second part. It's always easy after the game to say people didn't take any risk. I'll just make that comment. You know, if someone underwrites in the world, which is a shaky place at the moment, goes west or something, the underwrite no longer looks cheap. You know, just looking backwards and saying things were simple. You don't have the opportunity of going out and running a beauty show to choose your investment bankers, because you've got a confidentiality problem.
I mean, it's very important we keep this very quiet, but we do very carefully choose who the underwriters and the bankers are and put a lot of pressure on them, and we have, you know. And even between the two of them. So you can be assured that your very experienced board, some of whom have been investment bankers, Steve, looks to get the best deal possible. Now, on the rest of it, Stuart, they were paid their fee. I think they got their incentive fee. All correct?
That's correct, Patrick.
And look, looking back, oh, God, they made a lot of money, but they take, they are taking quite a lot of risk. And we're not easy taskmasters, I've got to say. And looking back with hindsight, it was a highly successful raise, and that will help. You know, we've got a huge amount of interest. We've got huge support for the underlying business thing. And I think the placement, which there was no pre-crossing or anything, so they start talking to people at 8:30 a.m., and it was covered by lunch. So that is a huge expression of support for your airport. And I'll say it's important for New Zealand, too, and perhaps this is a good note to end this piece on.
You know, we're hearing a lot about our lack of infrastructure and our inability to finance infrastructure, our need for private investment and foreign investment in this country. You've all heard it from the government. Our the program that Carrie and the team are running at the airport is New Zealand's most successful and, you know, progressing infrastructure. It will eventually, it doesn't require any government money, and, you know, a good part of that NZD 1.4 billion came from international investors who are prepared to put their money into the airport to build our infrastructure. So I think that's a bloody good news story, and thank you for, for those who support it. Now, one. Are there any more on the floor? There's one here. As the microphone comes to you, I'll just do one from online.
With cybersecurity being an important consideration of company boards, do we have enough skills in this area? You can see we're all going grey. It is a worry. Carrie, have we got enough skills?
Well, in terms of where that question was online, but we certainly have Richard Wilkinson, who's joined our executive team last year in terms of cybersecurity and the road that we're taking on that. We're making very good progress. You're never done in this space, unfortunately. At the time you actually address the known issues, those who are motivated to do cybercrime actually have another three or four avenues that they're chasing. It's top priority for us. It's on our risk register. We actively manage it as a management team, and we actively share and report back to the board in terms of what we're doing, the risks we've got, and any investment that's required to ensure that we are robust in that space.
... Great. Concerning a rail link to Auckland Airport, for feasibility, what about—'cause no one's mentioned about air cargo, you know, that's freight. Would it be well, obviously, for passengers, but will it be viable with having air cargo as well? Well, obviously, air cargo will be used, but will it be viable for that? Ah, that's a hard one. Mark, do you wanna... I think the answer is, I don't think it has a big role in cargo at all. But if you talk to Mark Thomson there with—Mark-
Thomson.
Thomson, with the glasses there, you can engage in that, but I don't think it has any role in freight, actually. There's one more online here from Ian Todd, and it's a great one, and I think it's appeared every time I've stood up here. Why don't shareholders get discounts on car parking? Carrie?
Oh, well, it is a great question. It's one of those things back across the view of the volume of shareholders and the volume of customers coming to, into the airport. But what we do have, as you're seeing the transport open, is choice is very important. So we do provide choice at varying price points and covered, uncovered, proximity, and otherwise, so that all of our customers, and certainly our shareholders, have options of what they want to choose that's right for them.
Yeah, it'd be just administratively too hard, let me assure you. But we appreciate. One more, and that's probably, by the looks of it, gonna be the last of the questions. There's one over here somewhere.
I've got one more for you, Shane Penny, shareholder. For today, thank you, Patrick, for chairing our meeting over the past few years. I know you're gonna retire, but to all of us that are here, [Foreign language] may God bless you. [Foreign language].
Thank you. Appreciate it. I think this will be the last question.
A good opportunity, I think, and I'd like, please, Mr. Strange, your answer on this one. I can go back to the days when John Banks was the Mayor of Auckland Council. Now, in Wellington, shortage of cash, they're looking at Wellington Airport. In the John Banks day, a Canadian pension fund was very interested in buying Auckland International Airport. In your judgment, do you think any overseas purchaser, because of tightness of cash locally, will step forward with an irresistible offer to acquire the share capital of Auckland International Airport?
I think there'd be huge interest, very valuable asset, but certainly under all the governments I've been under, of both ilks, has taken the view that it is an absolute strategic asset, and they would not let it go into foreign control.
If only Mr. Banks was here.
Mm-hmm.
He could repeat what he said.
Yeah
... in his day.
Look, I mean, we act for the shareholders and everything, but my, our view, and I don't think the government current. You know, you never know, it's their view, but in my history, in my time, both Labour-led and National-led governments have said it's a strategic asset, and they would not support a foreign entity taking effective control.
Thank you.
Great. I'll read one last one from online. Oh, it's from Stephen Mayne, but I'll give him one. Boy, I'm good. It must be strange having the former CEO of your biggest customer, Chris Luxon, become Prime Minister. There are always tensions between airlines and privatized airports. The chair mentioned his disappointment with Air New Zealand's lack of support for expansion. How important is support from the Luxon government to getting the project up, and does he bring negativity towards us to the table based on his history of Air New Zealand? No. I mean, he's Prime Minister. Carrie worked for him for a long time. He's got bigger things to worry about than the airport, but he does not bring... He's doing what's right for New Zealand. There's no sense of that.
And I will say that just about every minister known to man has been through the building, taken through by Carrie and other things. And to date, I mean, his comments, we have got strong support for the build. And I won't name the person the other day from government, but they walked into our offices, so you can't attribute this to anybody, and they said: "Just get on with it." So that's great. Well, thank you all. Now, before we end the meeting, Julia is going to say a few words as your incoming Chair.
Thank you, Patrick, and [Foreign language] . Look, I'm really glad that so many of you have been able to be here today, and also those of you online, and I want to pick up on your comment before. This is Patrick's last meeting, and I really would like to acknowledge Patrick and the huge contribution that he has made to the airport over the last nine years. We're very privileged, and I know I speak on behalf of my board, colleagues here, when I say how much we respect his wisdom, his sound guidance, and really how he's governed as the chair over the last few years as well. He's been a great chair to have, and from my own perspective, as the saying goes, he's leaving jolly big boots for me to fill, and hopefully I will live up to that.
On a personal note, it's actually very humbling, and at the same time, a real privilege to be taking over as Chair of your company. My job is to faithfully serve you as shareholders and to really continue to look after your best interests. I'm in no doubt that this is best achieved, though, by taking a long-term perspective. Auckland Airport is one of New Zealand's most important infrastructure assets. It is singular, necessary, and irreplaceable. We span 1,500 ha, and the assets are worth over NZD 11 billion. We are the gateway to New Zealand and for 18.5 million travelers annually, and NZD 26.6 billion in trade annually, so very, very significant. It's also the second-largest employment hub, as Carrie mentioned earlier, so very critical to people. For international travelers, we're New Zealand's primary border.
We host agencies, key agencies such as Customs, Security, and Biosecurity, and every day, 50,000 people connect through our airport. Each year, we manage over 150,000 aircraft movements, and the nature of the airport demands that we plan not just for the next five years, but also for the decades ahead. We've got to plan, invest, build, and manage our infrastructure to ensure that the airport continues to be resilient and has the capability to really fulfill that role as the country's major primary gateway and such a major contributor to New Zealand's economy. We do need to, as a board, exercise sound judgment, and we also have to balance what sometimes seems as being competing interests. On the one hand, we have a clear vision for the future, while on the other hand, we've got to manage and exercise financial prudence.
I'd just like to take a moment to illustrate this. If I cast my mind back to almost 20 years ago, a previous board was in a similar conundrum, and they approved the construction of Pier B at the airport, adding some new international gates, which were going to accommodate that new generation of aircraft at the time, the A380s, which you, Sir, spoke about before. It gave us flexibility to also manage smaller narrow-body aircraft. I think that the project was a really good example of the airport building flexible, future-focused infrastructure, which is really required. The pier was designed to make it easy to extend, so again, thinking about that foresight on delivery, and also to think about our future demand capacity and needs.
At around the same time, the airport also invested in other infrastructure in the airfield. It widened the runways and the taxiways to similarly accommodate those larger aircraft. We fielded enormous criticism over that time and a lot of pushback, and it was very vitriolic. I really believe that the decisions of that board 20-odd years ago have stood us in really good stead and stood New Zealand in really good stead, and it's proven the value of infrastructure and how critical it is for New Zealand and the New Zealand public. We've also created competition and opened up a whole lot of New Zealand routes and services, which is very important for New Zealand, and it's the kind of foresight I think that a board needs to have, and we need to position your airport for the long haul.
Today's building program is no different to that. We're delivering a series of essential infrastructure projects. Patrick talked about the need for the runway and the critical infrastructure there for us to make sure that when we actually have to shut the main runway in 2030 to do our repairs, we can actually have critical infrastructure that's working. And similarly, for those of you that go through the domestic terminal, you'll know that there's a real importance to actually think about that. So it's absolutely critical that we continue to evolve and look for what we can do within the airport, but also look for the efficiencies and think about innovation and new technology as well.
In terms of new technology, you'll notice as you start to travel internationally, our new customer baggage system, which I think will be a real game changer, and also, as I think Patrick or Carrie mentioned, just the basics that you want to have, like, upgrades to our Wi-Fi, to make that lightning fast and make the traveler journey a much nicer experience. Now, I appreciate that the infrastructure program has not been without its critics, and that's going to be inevitable, with the disruption that we're going to see. The scale of the works, we are a 24/7 operation. We're not a greenfield site. But I do firmly believe that it's in the best interests of Auckland, New Zealand, and your company for us to continue. I really strongly feel that we just can't afford future delays.
We need to push this investment forward rather than pushing it down the road, and as I mentioned, anyone that's experienced the congestion at the airport will understand what I'm talking about. As I take over as the new chair, which I'm very humbled to do, I just want to make sure that you realize that I'm also very focused on balancing a whole lot of factors, the many needs of our very different stakeholder groups, unlike other businesses that might have a small number of stakeholders. We start by thinking about our 27 airline customers, who are critical to our existence. But then also, all of the customers who continue to fly here and want to come to New Zealand, and there are sort of commercial imperatives that are absolutely critical for us in that.
We've got to act in the best interest of the traveling public. We've got to have a comfortable, seamless experience for those that are traveling, but also providing an environment which is safe, efficient, and seamless for customer journeys. We've got many commercial stakeholders, and we've got a duty of care to extend that. We've got a team at the airport, livelihoods, as Patrick and Carrie talked about, of the many individuals that work across our precinct, and it's really important that we consider their livelihoods. We place a huge amount of value on relationships more broadly, our relationship with the community, and also our relationships with local Iwi, because we are part of an area of their land, too. And so we've got to be very mindful of our operations and how our operations may impact our communities.
As we look ahead, we are continuing to want to play our part in investing significantly, and we want to really think about the interests of travel, tourism, and trade, and the important impacts that we can have, and the contributions that we can make, and by doing all of these things well, I believe we will create long-term shareholder value, and that will be very good for you, our shareholders, so we really appreciate all of your support and your continuing support, so once again, thank you very much, and just to wrap up again, Patrick, you've been a fabulous chair, so thank you very much. We'll miss you, but thank you. [Foreign language] .
Great, I get to close the meeting. So the one thing I would like to say is thanks to you for the trouble. You know, many familiar faces around this room, you take the trouble to come to the airport to follow us. It's your company, and we really, and I really appreciate it. So thank you. I will close the meeting, and there's refreshments at the back, and there are people to grill, particularly those executives up there that make all the mistakes. So I'll see you on the floor.