Morning everyone. I'm Julia Hoare, Chair at Auckland International Airport, and it's my absolute pleasure to welcome you all here today for the 2025 annual meeting, including those of you who are joining us here today online. Before I get started with the proceedings, I do want to apologize to those of you in the room for the venue. We had actually Eden Park booked for today, but for those who are cricket lovers, we got bumped at the last minute for the T20, so we had to relocate. I appreciate I think there's some racing happening here today. It was a bit of a nightmare to try and park and actually to come through that tunnel and the stairs. For many of you, I appreciate it would have been an unsatisfactory experience arriving at the start this morning. For that, I sincerely apologize.
Just getting back into the proceedings, with us today are my fellow directors, and I'll ask them to put their hands up as I call their names out. Firstly, Christine Spring, Mark Binns, Tania Simpson, Dean Hamilton, Liz Savage, Mark Cairns, and Grant Davenport. Both Mark Cairns and Liz Savage are standing for re-election as independent directors and will address the meeting prior to the vote today. We'll also be hearing from our Chief Executive, Carrie Hurihanganui, and also here today is our Chief Financial Officer, Stewart Reynolds, our other executives, and our auditors and legal counsel as well. We do have a quorum today, and I declare the meeting open. First, some housekeeping points though, and how the meeting will run today. The bathrooms are located in the hallway.
You would have walked past them for those of you in the room on the right as you go out the door. In the event of an emergency, please make your way down to the ground floor by the fire exit, which is located behind the stage here. The assembly point is on the lawn opposite the building. We do know that some of you will have questions, and there'll be time for these later in the meeting. If they pertain to the actual resolutions, you can ask them before we put each resolution to a vote. As usual, the resolutions will be decided via a poll and will be administered by our share agency. We'll announce the results of these polls via the stock exchanges at the close of today's or after the close of today's meeting.
In terms of the order today, the meeting order, the notice was sent to you as shareholders on the 23rd of September to the auditors of the company, and it was also posted on our website as well. The financial statements for the year ended 30 June 2025, and the audit report are included in the annual report, which is available online. For those in the room, there are also copies at the back if you'd like one. Representatives of our auditors, Deloitte, are here to answer any questions relating to audit matters. After my presentation, Carrie will give us all a review of the year just gone. We're then going to move on to the motions followed by a Q&A session. Let me start with my formal address and by providing you a snapshot of our FY 2025 financial results.
I'm pleased to say that Auckland Airport delivered a strong performance and resilient performance despite the well-known challenges with aircraft availability and the softer New Zealand economy. By the end of June this year, airline seat capacity, that's the total number of seats flying to and from New Zealand, had recovered to 92% of pre-2019 levels. Running through a few key results now. Total passenger numbers have increased up to 18.7 million. It's up 1% on the previous year. Auckland Airport' s revenue was up 12% to $1,005,000. Sorry. I got that wrong. I left a few notes off that one. Apologies. Operating EBIT/DEFI was up 14% to $701 million year- on- year, and reported profit after tax, including revaluations, increased to $421 million. This includes a $127.5 million net revaluation gain compared with a $15.3 million net revaluation loss for the same period last year.
The net underlying profit was up 12% to $310 million. Auckland paid a final dividend of $0.07 per share on the 3rd of October, and total dividends for FY 2025 were $223 million, which equates to a payout of 72% of our underlying profit, net profit after tax. When aviation grows, connectivity grows, and the economy does too. It fuels tourism, attracting investment, and linking exporters to global markets. While New Zealand continues to rebuild its aviation network, international passenger numbers remain steady in FY 2025. However, signs of growth are emerging, and recent announcements from the airline show renewed confidence in the aviation market. I'll come back to the New Zealand announcements yesterday in due course. The most notable new connection is the China Eastern one, which is planning to connect Shanghai through Auckland to Buenos Aires.
This will be the world's longest route, including a stopover when it launches in December this year, and it introduces another direct flight from Auckland to South America. It also positions Auckland International Airport Limited as a strategic transit point for a broader intercontinental connectivity between Asia and South America. Full credit to our airline team who have been working on this important connection for a number of years. Domestic passenger movements were also steady in FY 2025, reflecting the constraints on capacity due to Air New Zealand's well-known fleet engine issues and the softer local economy. However, we have been buoyed by the announcement that Jetstar will offer an additional 660,000 international and domestic seats to and from Auckland.
With high demand for domestic travel across the board and load factors that are remaining at near historic levels, this is really welcome news for travelers and for competition in the local aviation market. It also validates Auckland Airport 's own capacity-building investments, with 75% of the announced growth to take place to and from Auckland, and with Jetstar also basing an additional aircraft at Auckland to support this growth. A recent study by EY found Auckland Airport supports $35 billion of economic output each year for New Zealand. Looking ahead, an estimated 38 million people are expected to travel through the airport annually by 2047. That's around double the number of travelers at the airport today, and it underpins Auckland Airport' s confidence in our investment to upgrade and transform the airport.
As we grow, we need to meet the expectations of modern travelers, investing to ensure the airport remains fit for purpose and provides a comfortable experience. The passenger story is well understood, but what is less known is that Auckland is New Zealand's third largest port by value. We play a vital role in the supply chain, handling over $26 billion of trade each year. By 2047, we expect high-value air cargo to have grown by more than 40%. With this long-term growth forecast on the horizon, we need to plan decades ahead and ensure we build the right assets to support tomorrow's demand. Resilient infrastructure is essential for us to succeed, and I'm proud to say we are well down the track in transforming Auckland Airport, making this one of the most defining chapters in our history.
In FY 2025, our capital expenditure was $1,090 million, reflecting the scale of our building program. We are not an outlier in investing at this scale. Major Australian airports are also making bold investments to be future-ready. Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane airports are developing new terminals to boost capacity, resilience, and enhance the passenger experience. Meanwhile, Melbourne Airport is working toward a third runway to unlock future aviation capacity. These multi-billion dollar investments across the Australasian airport sector reflect a shared recognition that resilient infrastructure is essential to stay competitive and to grow economies. FY 2025 saw the fully subscribed $1.2 billion capital raise from institutional investors and also the $200 million share purchase plan for retail investors, and we thank you for your confidence and support in this. Earlier this month, we also completed two debt issues.
First, a $200 million retailable fixed-rate bond offer, immediately followed by a $100 million wholesale floating rate note issue. We're really pleased with the outcome of both issues, and we welcome the confidence that investors have in our business and our balance sheet and our long-term outlook. Our dividend reinvestment plan remains well supported, with participation rates in excess of 40%. We're excited to see the results of our capital investment taking some shape as we complete developments. Last month, we opened the International Airfield expansion area, adding about 250,000 sq m, or the equivalent of 23 rugby fields of new apron and taxiway space. This created parking for up to 11 jets and lays the groundwork for the next phase of the terminal integration program. Here's a quick overview of the airfield project.
These international planes bring serious economic value to New Zealand. It means more tourists visiting and that high-quality premium exports that we produce reaching the world and ultimately businesses connecting. It might look like a simple expanse of concrete, but it actually has been a huge infrastructure undertaking. It's our biggest expansion of the airfield since the airport opened nearly 60 years ago. It's delivered 250,000 sq m of new airfield, or the equivalent of 23 rugby fields of aircraft parking.
It will cater for six wide-body aircraft or 11 narrow-body aircraft.
It delivers essential new capacity to support the airport, and it's everything from additional space for arriving passenger jets to aircraft parking and refueling, and freeing up our gates around our terminal.
We took some of our old concrete runway slabs, crushed that concrete up, and used that as some of our backfill. There's a really significant stormwater network below our feet, collecting the surface water from our new pavement area.
It's estimated that by 2032, Auckland Airport will have $41 billion of high-value air freight going through our front door. The airfield expansion's vital. This is the first really important part of a puzzle that creates that runway, pardon the pun, for that future growth, particularly for New Zealand's economy, and we take that role incredibly seriously.
It's just really exciting to be part of it all. Another milestone for the team was completing the transport hub in November 2024, and I'm sure many of you will have used the transport hub by now. International travellers now enjoy a modern, fit-for-purpose facility when they pull up inside a new undercover pickup and drop-off area. Further to the east of the precinct, we're expanding the regional airfield, a project that will add four new aircraft stands and help growth in regional flights. After a year of building, we're now a third of the way through completing the new domestic jet terminal. The progress is advancing quickly and is on track. However, complex work lies ahead to complete the structural work for the pier and also carry out the fit-out and the digital infrastructure.
In her presentation, Carrie is going to add more depth to many of the other work streams in planning or underway across the airfield and the terminals. Now I'd like to turn to regulation. Efficient and stable regulation plays a critical role in creating the conditions for the ongoing private investment in long-term infrastructure. In March 2025, we welcomed the Commerce Commission's final report into price-setting event four, we call it PAC4, highlighting how Auckland Airport's planned investment is delivering for consumers. The report confirmed that Auckland Airport's investment is reasonable, fit for purpose, and had followed appropriate consultation with airlines. Auckland Airport did discount airline charges for the final two years of PAC4, bringing the targeted return for the period to 7.82% and within the range that the Commerce Commission found to be reasonable.
Following PAC4, regulators continued their scrutiny of the airport sector off the back of continued airline lobbying. However, in July this year, the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, MBIE, concluded that legislative reform is not needed at this time, following a targeted consultation on the effectiveness of airline regulation. This was quickly followed by the Commerce Commission carrying out a sprint project looking at airport regulation after Air New Zealand had written to the regulator asking it to consider an inquiry into airports. We welcomed the Commission's decision to rule out the need for an inquiry as a positive outcome for investors. We welcomed the Commerce Commission confirming the government's position that legislative change is not being pursued.
Instead, as we expected and was recommended by MB, the Commerce Commission intends to review the information disclosure requirements for major airport investment, and we look forward to working with them through that process as the regulator. We note there are continued claims over the cost of airport charges to airlines, and we feel it's important to view these claims in context. We are not the reason it is so expensive to fly in New Zealand. In the 10 years leading up to June 2023, Auckland Airport 's domestic per passenger jet charges rose just $0.65 in real terms, reflecting the ageing domestic terminal. Even now, domestic jet charges per passenger remain among the lowest when compared to major New Zealand and Australian airports.
Between 2023 and 2027, domestic jet charges are going to go up an average of $1.26 per year per passenger and remain lower than both Christchurch and Wellington. There is simply no incentive for us at Auckland Airport to raise charges in a way that would restrict passenger or airline growth. I just really want to make that very clear. Now onto some governance matters. As I mentioned earlier, this year, Mark Cairns and Liz Savage are standing for re-election as independent directors in line with the NZX listing rules. Their full biographies were contained in the notice of meeting. Mark is standing for election after three years with the board. Over here. And just a bit about Mark. You will have read his bio, but he has deep experience in building and operating large infrastructure and complex supply chains, as well as significant exposure to capital markets.
He serves on our Audit and Financial Risk Committee and our Infrastructure Development Committee, and the board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of re-election of Mark Cairns. Liz Savage is standing for re-election after six years with the board. Liz has extensive experience in the airline, travel, and tourism sectors and brings a thorough understanding of the airline business to the board. Her board committee roles include the Aeronautical Pricing Committee, the People, EWE, and Remuneration Committee, and she chairs our Safety, Sustainability, and Operational Risk Committee. Like Mark, the board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote in favor of Liz's re-election. Today, I'd also like to recognize Christine Spring, who stands down from the board after 11 years. Christine is a civil engineer, and she's got deep aviation experience, and she has been a significant contributor to Auckland Airport and the board over her tenure.
Christine, we'd just like to acknowledge you and say that we will really miss you. We're currently in the process of recruiting a new director to replace Christine, and we look forward to being able to introduce that person at next year's annual meeting. We're still in that process, so we've got no information that I can share with you at this time. We will seek your support at that time. I'd also like to take the opportunity, while we're talking about governance, to acknowledge Patrick Strange, our former Chair, who handed the baton over to me after last year's annual meeting. Patrick, hopefully you are online. Thank you for your enormous contribution as well to the airport. Turning now to outlook, management's assessment for FY 2026 prudently takes into account local economic conditions, as well as ongoing constrained seat capacity.
As such, we remain cautious about the outlook for FY 2026, and our guidance still remains unchanged. Stepping back, Auckland Airport takes great pride in our role as New Zealand's gateway, and I believe our achievements over the past year reflect this. As we carry out our much-needed upgrades to the airport, we remain really focused on the passenger experience. In the months ahead, our team will begin to upgrade the International Check-in Hall, which is a critical project to enable us to accommodate domestic jet services in 2029. These works, located at our front door of the international terminal, are significant. While we're doing everything we can do to minimize disruption, we appreciate travelers' patience and understanding.
We hope for your patience and understanding as we work toward delivering this next phase of the build, and we'll do everything in our power to make it as smooth as possible. Our success is really only possible thanks to our airline partners, the border agencies, our tenants, and the countless others that work to deliver a welcoming experience for our customers. In particular, and on behalf of the board, I'd like to actually thank the Auckland International Airport Limited team for their commitment and dedication as we build the airport for the future. I'd actually like to finally thank you, our retail and institutional investors, for your continued support and your confidence in us as we focus on transforming Auckland Airport, your airport, for the future. I'm now going to pass over to Carrie to provide some more commentary over the progress over the last year. Thanks, Carrie.
Thank you, Julia. Ngā mihi nui, ki a koutou katoa. It's great to see all of you here today, and I'm pleased to reflect on a year in which we built resilience and laid down the foundations for future growth. These themes, resilience and growth, are core to Auckland Airpor 's strategy and operations, to the value we deliver to you as shareholders, and also to how we support New Zealand's growth ambitions. Resilience is our capacity to absorb challenges, recover quickly, and carry on with the mission. We've faced some significant tests in our recent history, from the pandemic to the Auckland region's flooding and congestion experienced by travelers and international arrivals after borders reopened. In response, we've taken deliberate steps to strengthen our operations and infrastructure, and I'd like to take a moment to highlight a couple of them.
As New Zealand's gateway, serving millions of travelers and acting as an important lifeline utility, we must be prepared for increasingly severe weather events. One of the ways we've built resilience is through the newly expanded international airfield that Julia referred to. The resilience hero of this airfield system is a 4.4 km extension of the stormwater network that connects to something called a coupled wetland biofilter. This is a first for New Zealand, and it involves a new stormwater pond to filter runoff from more than 100 hectares across the airport precinct. The water flows through thousands of native plants to achieve higher quality for release into the Manukau Harbour. The new airfield boosts resilience in other ways, too. It means that we can continue to keep the country's gateway running efficiently and smoothly as we move into the next phase of building the new integrated domestic jet terminal.
Financial resilience is also important for shareholders. As Julia said, our FY 2025 result is a positive outcome for Auckland Airport in the context of capacity constraints, geopolitical challenges, and a subdued domestic economy. Operational resilience also matters. As part of our continued focus on creating a better experience for our customers, our leadership team, our workforce, and government agency partners have worked tirelessly to enhance the departures and arrivals experience. These improvements have translated directly into faster processing, shorter queues, and a smoother journey for every passenger. For example, since FY 2023, so over the last couple of years, we have seen a 46% improvement in median processing times in international arrivals, and that's thanks to the collaboration with Biosecurity New Zealand, the New Zealand Customs Service, and ground handlers.
It now takes just 17 minutes on average for a passenger to pass through customs and exit into the international arrivals area, which is down from previously an average of 31 minutes. We were also delighted to be recognized in the global Skytrax Customer Satisfaction Survey, placing fourth for best airports in the world with 10 million- 20 million annual passengers and 46th for customer satisfaction across all airports globally. 46th, you say? For context, there are approximately 1,200 international airports globally in almost 200 countries. Now, these improvements in the traveler experience, supported by a concerted communications program, saw Auckland Airport recognized in the top 10 in this year's Kantar Corporate Reputation Index that measures public perception of New Zealand's top corporates.
Auckland Airport scored its highest placement ever, moving up from 42nd to 9th place with high scores on trust and leadership, which are the biggest drivers of reputation. Overall, I'm confident we have markedly improved our resilience over the past year, and now I'll turn to the second key theme of my address, which is fueling growth. Now, in this section, I want to talk about how Auckland Airport is building capacity and connectivity for the future. FY 2025 saw Auckland Airport release its refreshed draft master plan, which provides an initial vision for the airport out into the late 2040s, noting that it is dependent on growth triggers. The document sets out a high-level view for our core operations, the airfield, terminals, and other aeronautical assets, and that reflects changes in customer expectations, technology, climate resilience, and the growing needs of Auckland and New Zealand.
Stakeholder feedback is an ongoing and critical part of the process, helping to shape the important decisions we need to make, often years in advance of actually delivering complex infrastructure. We have extended the timeframe for our finalization of our master plan to the first half of next year to allow for additional and targeted consultation on certain key matters, including ground transport. We're very mindful that Auckland Airport is not only a national airport; it is also Auckland's airport. By 2050, Auckland's metropolitan population is projected to grow by approximately 700,000 people, reaching about 2.5 million, or around half the population of Melbourne. This level of expected growth brings with it significant challenges and responsibilities. Major infrastructure must be guided by a clear, trigger-based demand to ensure the right investments are made at the right time.
While delivering large-scale projects is never easy, it remains essential for New Zealand to stay connected, competitive, and ready for the future. Internationally, the long-term outlook is positive. Our team is on the road year-round, speaking to airlines, championing New Zealand, and working to ensure we remain a destination of choice for both airlines and travellers. International airlines tell us they have aircraft deliveries on the way, and New Zealand is firmly in their sights. Ongoing strength from the North American market continues as the second highest source of inbound travellers for Auckland Airport, with a record 322,000 visitors from the U.S. in FY 2025. There was a strong recovery of visitors from Australia in the financial year, which is the source of 43% of all visitor arrivals to New Zealand during the period.
As part of our role in attracting visitors, Auckland Airport actively works with regional tourism organizations to generate greater visitation from our key tourism markets of Australia, North America, and China. In May, we announced an alliance of 15 North Island tourism organizations to leverage our collective tourism pulling power. We are seeking to better connect the dots for international visitors to help them experience everything that is wonderful and unique about the North Island. In September, this grouping took the North Island Kiwi North showcase to Australia, and that enabled more than 60 North Island tourism operators to connect with key Australian travel sellers at two events in Sydney and Melbourne. Julia referenced in her presentation the new route from China through Auckland to South America, and we are really looking forward to its launch in December.
In other positive South American news, LATAM Airlines from the end of October will be ending their previous Santiago via Auckland to Sydney services, and we will move to replace that to offer up five weekly dedicated Santiago to Auckland services. If we look across the Tasman, we are looking forward to Qantas's upcoming launch of two new Trans-Tasman routes in late 2025, being Perth to Auckland and Adelaide to Auckland. In December, Sichuan Airlines will return year-round services on the Chengdu to Auckland route, and with Sichuan Airlines' return, Auckland Airport will have direct flight connections by five airlines to no less than eight cities in China. Other existing carriers adding notable seat capacity this summer include Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and China Southern Airlines.
On the air cargo front, a milestone was achieved in July this year when China Southern Airlines launched New Zealand's first dedicated freighter from Guangzhou to Auckland. All told, that means there will be 42 weekly flights linking Auckland and China this coming summer. Trade is a key focus area of our growth strategy, reinforcing Auckland Airport 's position as a leading port, as Julia had mentioned earlier. The vast majority of high-value air freight is carried in the belly hold of international passenger jets. Examples include high-value manufactured products such as electronics and machinery, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, and fresh produce from the fields of New Zealand's regions destined for export markets. Every new plane we can add to our international schedule expands export capacity for New Zealand.
The 2024 EY Economic Impact Report forecasts that by 2032, the value of annual freight movements through Auckland Airport will top $41 billion. In line with this, we are developing a new cargo precinct on Manutapu Drive as part of the airfield expansion to centralize freight operations from across the precinct. By creating an efficient integrated cargo hub, we are helping New Zealand businesses grow with more destinations, faster turnaround times, greater security, and closer coordination between airlines, freight companies, and ground handlers. Still to come, however, is our brand new integrated domestic jet terminal with construction now in full swing. You may have seen a crane or two if you've been out to the airport. With the opening of the international airfield expansion and the extra space, we can now get underway on the new domestic pier that goes along with it.
Almost a quarter of a kilometer in length, it will have 12 aircraft gates, with six of those that are flexible and able to take two narrow-body or one wide-body aircraft. Capacity-wise, the domestic jet terminal will have 44% more processing space and 26% more seat capacity when it opens, along with an additional 10% capacity for busing operations that allows you to manage peaks and special events. This ultimately is good news for consumers because unlocking capacity is key to enable not only future growth but also competition. Our next big project is transforming the check-in area of the international terminal. Over the next four years, our check-in hall will completely transform into a 13,000 sq m departures area that's modern, digital, and intuitive. New self-service kiosks and automated bag drops will replace traditional counters, freeing up space, easing queues, and improving flow.
For more information on the project, we thought we'd share a quick video. Flying was considered a real luxury. People were dressed to reflect that, wearing best clothes, and actually everything moved at a much slower pace. Check-in was a manual experience. You'd queue up with your paper ticket, and you'd get a handwritten boarding pass. Today, travelers don't want to wait in long lines. They want to move at their own pace and be in control of their journey. Globally, there is a move to self-service kiosks because that allows for that self-driven experience. This is our most significant upgrade of Auckland Airport 's check-in experience since the 1970s. It's really about making it faster, more flexible, easier to navigate.
This is a generational change to Auckland Airport.
This is a critical project. It includes automated bag drops, new entrances, wayfinding, and upgraded vertical transport, things like lifts and escalators. It's what travelers expect at the world's best airports.
All of this area that I'm standing in now will be the new expansion part. Construction will come out to the edge of the canopy and all the way to the edge of the building.
We're building the plane while flying it, so to speak, so we do ask for travelers' patience. We're creating an airport fit for the future for decades to come, incredibly satisfying and important for New Zealand's growth ambitions.
The transformation of our check-in hall will be another complex and highly visible project. We are modernizing right to the core of our 24/7 operations, and that means change for travelers and everyone that operates at the airport. There is simply no getting around that. The work is essential for us to grow and bring together domestic and international travel into one common check-in hall. Rest assured, our priority continues to be delivering a smooth experience for travelers during the project. We are committed to keeping people informed, minimizing disruption as much as possible, and managing the build safely. I do promise it will be worth it once it's complete. We were very active also in FY 2025 commercially with a well-balanced, diversified portfolio of activities. The opening of Manawae Bay was a major milestone in FY 2025. It's brought a new standard of premium outlet retail shopping for Auckland, and today the center employs up to 750 people at peak season, working across the center's 117 stores. At Manawae Bay, long-term environmental performance is a priority.
It achieved a five-star GreenStar rating for its design, incorporating features such as solar panels, rainwater collection, and carefully managed waste streams. Another FY 2025 milestone in the airport's retail business was French global travel retailer Lagardère taking an eight-year contract to operate our duty-free stores from July 1 this year. We are delighted to partner with Lagardère to bring the next evolution of duty-free shopping to Auckland Airport, which will include a phased refurbishment of the stores starting later this year. You might recall there was a lot of public attention focused on IKEA opening their Sylvia Park store in December. Less well-known is that Auckland Airport's aviation logistics and distribution precinct is the site for IKEA's local and national distribution center. The 20,000 sq m five-star GreenStar design building opened in December to take about 8,000 cu m- 10,000 cu m of inventory annually.
FY 2025 also saw the completion of a temperature-controlled pharmaceuticals facility for DHL Healthcare, which now operates five buildings at Auckland Airport, purpose-built for the company. Three months ago, New Zealand's biggest supermarket business, Foodstuffs North Island, committed to a long-term lease of a new 30,000 sq m chilled and frozen food distribution center at the Landing across the road from the cooperative's new support center. That building was also developed and is owned by Auckland Airport. More broadly, Auckland Airport's investment property portfolio ended FY 2025 very strongly. It has a total value of $3.4 billion, a commercial property rent roll of $192 million, occupancy levels at 99%, and a weighted average lease term at just under nine years. Mahia te mahi, we make it happen here. This is language that binds all of us who work for and at Auckland Airport.
It's a spirit that extends to our wider South Auckland community. We thank all 734 employees of Auckland Airport who put their backs into the results that we have presented to you today. We acknowledge the diverse skills and passions that they bring to work every single day. A new BusinessDesk survey of New Zealand's most productive companies in 2024 validates the efforts of our whole team. Auckland Airport topped the list from a selection of 20 companies from the NZX50, representing a cross-section of New Zealand's core industries. We also have 1,500 people currently working on the construction of the terminal integration and infrastructure program, and that is set to grow to be 2,500 jobs at its peak. Ensuring worker safety is a key priority as construction intensifies for us.
The airport lowered our lost time injury rate for contractors from 1.5 in FY 2024 to 0.31 in FY 2025, a reflection of our focus on strong and effective safety management practices. The International Airfield project team was actually a standout. They worked more than 1.3 million hours without a single lost time injury. Auckland Airport's contract with Hockens on the integrated terminal achieves social, economic, and environmental outcomes alongside delivering the infrastructure itself. It considers broader outcomes when making procurement, employment, and operational decisions. Although early in project delivery, benefits are already flowing back into the community. We have adopted environmental outcomes, provided students with work experience, and spent more than $2 million with Māori and Pasifika businesses so far.
In support of the South Auckland community, which we call home, FY 2025 sought to contribute half a million dollars in cash and kind to the Ara Auckland Airport Jobs and Skills Hub located on our precinct. Since 2015, when it was stood up, Ara has graduated 1,230 students who leave with experience, vocational direction, and hope for the future. Whether building resilience or fueling growth, my message is that Auckland Airport is future-proofing to serve the needs of travelers, of airlines, of Auckland, and New Zealand. My address last year was about what was to come. This year, it is about demonstrating delivery. We are doing what we said we would do. We have the momentum, the team, and the drive to continue delivering for New Zealand and for you. Nā mihi nui.
Thank you very much, Carrie. Now to the resolutions. You may ask questions on each matter being put to the shareholders, either in person here or through the virtual meeting website. I will ask for any questions for each director standing for re-election after he or she has spoken. If you're going to ask a question, can I ask you as shareholders to please give your name when you're speaking to the resolutions and confirm if you are a shareholder or a proxy holder? There are going to be roving microphones available in the room. It's really critical for those in the room that you wait for that microphone to get to you so that everyone that's also online, as well as those that are present here today, can actually hear your question.
Shareholders who are participating in the meeting online have the ability to ask questions and also vote through the virtual meeting platform. A member of our legal team will read out those questions at the appropriate time at the meeting so everyone at the meeting can actually hear the questions. If you do require assistance, please refer to the virtual meeting guide or call the helpline, which has been specified. We may also amalgamate questions of a similar nature. If you have asked a question and it doesn't sound like exactly your wording, if you find that two or three others have asked the same question, they will be linked together. If we haven't actually asked your answer to your question clearly enough, do feel free to contact us via the investor page, and we can clarify things further.
As I mentioned earlier, all the voting on the resolutions will be conducted by way of a poll. If you are voting as a shareholder, proxy holder, or a corporate representative, please use the voting paper handed to you at the registration in the meeting. Those of you online, you'll be able to cast your vote using the electronic voting card, which you have received when your online registration was validated. To vote, you'll need to click the get voting card within the online meeting platform, and you'll be asked to enter your shareholder number or proxy number to validate that. Please then mark your voting card as you wish to vote, either for, against, or abstain on the voting card. Once you've made your selection, please click the submit vote on the bottom of the card to make sure that you've actually lodged your vote.
As I say, please refer to the virtual meeting guide if you've got issues, or alternatively, you can call a helpline, which is 0800- 200- 220, if you require any assistance. Proxies have been received from 837 shareholders, which is about 1.3 billion of our shares, which represents approximately 76% of the shares on issue. We will not be releasing that information right now. Shareholders, the company's constitutional directors for re-election to address the meeting first, and then I will open it up to questions immediately after they've spoken. We will then ask shareholders to cast their votes for each of the resolutions at the end of the resolution pace. As usual, there'll be the opportunity for shareholders to ask general questions as well, and I propose that we'll do that after the re-election questions.
Firstly, I'll turn to our ordinary resolution number one, which is the re-election of Mark Cairns. Mark was appointed a director of the airport at our 2022 annual meeting, and the board unanimously supported him.
I'm a fellow of Engineering New Zealand and a chartered fellow of the Institute of Directors. After 16 years as Chief Executive of Port of Tauranga, I retired four years ago to pursue a full-time governance career. I'm also currently Chairman of Freightways and a Director of Briscoe's Group, having previously served on the boards of Meridian Energy and Sanford. I bring extensive commercial experience from previous Chief Executive roles in business operations at scale, including significant exposure to capital markets. Over my 40-year career, I've completed numerous large-scale infrastructure construction projects within time, cost, and quality expectations, both as a contractor in the earliest stages of my career and latterly as a principal or owner-operator of the infrastructure. I consider these to be highly relevant skills and experience to bring to our board table in view of the airport's multi-billion dollar capital development program over the next few years.
Auckland Airport is an excellent company that has a great future. Our airport is more than just infrastructure, though. It's a critical enabler of tourism, trade, and connection for all New Zealanders. As we look to the future, Auckland Airport must continue to evolve as a smart, sustainable, and customer-centric hub, investing in fit-for-purpose, future-ready infrastructure, and strengthening our partnerships across the aviation and logistics sectors. Serving as a Director on this iconic gateway to New Zealand has been an honor and a responsibility that I take seriously. I seek your support today to continue to serve you as a Director. Nā mihi. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Thanks, Mark. I now move that Mark Cairns be re-elected as a director of the company. Before I ask you to cast your vote, are there any questions from those of you on the floor? No? None. Louise, are there any questions from those online?
There are no questions online.
Thanks, Louise. That's great. If there's no questions online, I'm going to move to the second ordinary resolution in relation to the reappointment of Liz Savage. Liz was appointed as the director of the company at our 2019 annual meeting, and the board, like Mark, unanimously recommends that Liz be reappointed as a director. She's considered by the board to be an independent non-executive director, so I'd now like to ask Liz to please address the meeting. Thanks, Liz.
Thank you, Julia. Tēnā koutou, katoa. Good morning to you all. It's my absolute privilege to stand before you today as I seek re-election to the Auckland Airport Board. Over the past few years, I've seen firsthand just how important this organization is, not just as an airport, but as a gateway that connects New Zealanders, supports thousands of jobs, fuels tourism, trade, and growth. I'm genuinely motivated by the opportunity to help guide the airport through this next stage of its growth and development. I've spent 30 years in senior leadership roles across airlines, tourism, and airport governance, industries that really live and breathe that connectivity, that customer experience, and are resilient. I'm based in Australia, which remains New Zealand's largest visitor market, and I bring that external perspective to the Board, ensuring that we stay close to our partners and our customers across the Tasman.
I also chair the Board's Safety, Sustainability, and Operational Risk Committee, which oversees on behalf of the Board how we protect the value of the company and the well-being of everybody who interacts with it. Right now, as you've heard, our risk landscape is changing fast. We're in the middle of one of our biggest infrastructure builds in the airport's history. Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated, and climate change is shaping how we plan and how we operate for the future. Through all of that, my focus has been and will continue to be on keeping the airport and its community safe, sustainable, and forward-looking, while ensuring we deliver long-term value for you, our shareholders, and for Aotearoa. Auckland Airport has an exciting chapter ahead, and I'd be proud to continue to contribute to the team guiding it to success. Nā mihi nui.
Thank you for your support.
Thank you, Liz. I move that Liz Savage be re-elected as a director of our company. I'll turn to the floor first. Are there any questions from anyone on the floor here? No? It does not look like it. I'll turn, Louise, in terms of online, are there any questions from anyone online?
There are no questions online, but Chair, I'd just like to note that we are aware that the video has gone down online. Our online audience can hear us, but they currently can't see us. Our technical experts are working to resolve this problem.
Look, thanks very much. Our real apologies to those of you who are online because that's a pretty difficult and unsatisfactory position to be in right now. We truly apologize for that, and hopefully we can get the video piece up and running soon. I'd now like to turn to ordinary resolution number three, which is to do with director remuneration. We are seeking to increase the total quantum of the director fee pool by 6% from $1,593,350 to $1,688,951. The last increase in the director fee pool was six years ago, so director fees have remained unchanged since 2019. The current fee pool request is really to increase effectively director fees by 1% per year since 2019. Since that time, the regulatory landscape has changed, and therefore, we've also actually embarked on a very significant infrastructure program.
What we did earlier in 2015 is we undertook a really detailed review of the skills we felt that we needed around the table to take us through until at least the commissioning of the new build. We undertook a skills matrix and really looked at which directors sat there. This resulted in a skills matrix which really confirmed the critical skills that we feel we need around the table and the general skills that are going to create long-term value for you as shareholders. It was really clear when we did this and looking at the huge breadth of activity that we've got going on that until at least the commissioning of the integrated domestic jet terminal, we needed to keep the number of directors around the table at eight.
Obviously, a number of companies are moving down to seven at the moment, but we have really felt that to actually serve you properly, eight is the right number. We commissioned independent expert PricewaterhouseCoopers to undertake a benchmarking exercise for us. As we do with strategic people, we have targeted, and it's a target only because obviously the resolution doesn't come near that target, but we've targeted the 75th percentile policy given the scale and complexity of what we've got ahead and the transformational agenda we've got ahead. We want to be able to appoint the right directors to give the maximum value to you. I can say around my table here, I think we've got a fantastic board. We also have the necessity from time to time to recruit international directors who we consider add real value.
We have actually considered this quite robustly and considered that the proposed director fee increase of 6% is fair and reflective of the current market considerations and the size of the Auckland Airport Board. As I say, also appropriate given the breadth of the company's activities and investment programme. Should the resolution be approved by shareholders today, the increase would take effect from November 1, 2025. I would like to move that the director fee pool is increased from $1,593,350 to $1,688,951. I do open it up firstly to the floor. Are there any questions from those of you in the room today that you'd like to ask in relation to this resolution? I've got a question down here in the front. Thank you.
Paul Ford as shareholder. I note the beneficiary of the proposed increase is greatest for the Chair, and there are a number of other fee reductions for other Chairs of the Board. Can you explain the rationale of that, please?
Yes, that's a very good question because on first look, I do appear to be that beneficiary. What we did was we did an independent benchmarking piece to look at not only the size of the pool, but actually what the respective fees should be for directors and also chairs, directors, and also the various subcommittees, including the chairs of those committees. We found some quite big anomalies. The Chair, I attend all of the meetings, all of the subcommittees of all of the boards and participate in all of those. We found that there was quite an anomaly there. In terms of the benchmarking at that stage, I think I was around about 69%, I think it was, or something like that, of the average for the chairs. In terms of our Audit and Financial Risk, the committee and chairs were actually above the average.
We used the benchmarking to actually try and align what, not only thinking about the pool, but what individual directors should be receiving to be comparable with directors. The Chair amount has moved quite a bit. Hopefully, that answers your question. Thank you. Are there other questions in the room? There's one down here toward the back. Could you just wait for the mic so that those online can hear you? Thank you.
I'm Naki shareholder. You said there are eight directors?
That's correct.
With the increase, it'll raise to about $21,000 a year. That's an increase of about $26,000 for each one?
In the notice of meeting, we'll show the actual amounts per director. If you just turn to that, you'll have the detail of the individuals. We don't allocate the full pool to directors. We have an ad hoc aeronautical pricing committee, which we stand up when we're dealing with all of these regulatory issues. We will stand up that committee as required from time to time. That committee is generally quite busy in the lead-up to a price-setting event, or alternatively when there's other strong regulatory matters that we need to deal with at a committee level before it comes to the board. We also, from time to time, will stand up other subcommittees of the board if we're needing to crunch through some quite detailed issues. For example, the capital raise last year had a subcommittee working quite hard there too.
We keep a part of the pool available for that subcommittee work. The actual increases per director and per role are set out in the notice of meeting. It doesn't equate to the numbers you've used, but that's probably because we've got this pool aside for the APC and other ad hoc committees.
Yeah, I just added the number, and just the number I came out with, $211,000. It was no reflection on you guys, but just to highlight to the shareholders that that's the pay you get. That's all. Thank you.
Thank you. Are there other questions in the room? No, I don't think so. I'll turn online. We do have a pre-submitted question. Do you want me to read it out? From shareholders Bupendra and Anil Anasi, and it said, what is the basis for the increase in the director fee pool? I trust I've covered that in my address beforehand, but it is really just trying to, nothing, there's been no increase since 2019, and really trying to align the director fee pool with market norms for businesses of our sort of scale and complexity. We've really tried to move that and have taken the position this time to actually try and address the matter. I hope that having talked about the infrastructure upgrades, the regulation, and other issues, and the need for eight directors, which means that takes us to a higher pool, has been explained. Thank you.
Are there other questions online?
There are no questions online, and Julia, I note that the video has returned online.
Brilliant. Welcome back, and apologies to those of you online that had that happen. I'd now like to turn to resolution four. Deloitte is automatically reappointed as our auditor of the company under section 207(t) of the Companies Act 1993. I move that the directors be authorized to fix the fees and expenses of the auditor. Are there any questions from the floor in relation to this matter? No? None. Louise, are there any questions online?
No, there are no questions.
Thank you. No questions online. Okay, let's move to the actual formal piece in relation to the poll. We will now conduct the poll in respect to the motions put to the meeting. The poll is being administered by MUFG Pension and Market Services, and they're going to act as scrutineers. For those of you, please can you complete your voting papers by ticking for, against, or if you wish to abstain, abstain when you're casting your vote. Anyone in the room who has difficulty, please do feel free to raise your hand and assistance will be provided. Share registry staff are going to move through the room in a minute and collect your papers. Those of you that are participating in the meeting online through the virtual meeting website, you should now submit your votes if you have not already done so.
The results of the polls will be announced to the NZX and ASX later in the day. I'd now like to turn to other business, and I'd like to invite shareholders to raise any questions, comments, any discussion, anything in relation to the presentations today, the financial statements, or any other topic which might concern you in relation to governance or management of our company. Any matters at all that may lawfully be considered as part of this meeting. Again, those of you that are participating online, you're able to ask questions through the virtual website, but please keep your questions short and clear. For those of you in the meeting venue, if for some reason you don't feel you get enough chance to ask your question, please talk to one of us afterwards.
We're going to obviously invite you to join us for refreshments afterwards, and we can hopefully help you with that. All of the board and staff are wearing a sort of black badge like mine, so you'll easily be able to identify any of us by our name badges. I ask shareholders, corporate representatives, or proxy holders wishing to speak, as I said before, make sure you use a microphone. As you do, could you please identify where you're from before you address the meeting? Firstly, I will turn to the floor, and then I will go online. Are there any questions from the floor that you would like to raise with us? There's one down here.
Michael Schroff, shareholder. I missed the Auckland floods. In fact, I was flying out the night before to Vancouver. I just saw the images on TV and everywhere else. What specific measures have you taken to prevent a return of the floods that you saw in the main terminal building?
Thank you. We've taken quite significant measures, and Carrie showed you the video today. I'm going to turn to Carrie, but we've done a huge amount of work in relation to stormwater to make sure that these sort of events can be dealt with in the future because, as we note, there are more and more increasing climate events, and we need to be resilient. Carrie, would you like to comment in detail?
Yes, I certainly would. Just testing, can you hear me? Yes? Great. Great question, and no, I certainly would not want to do that again. What we have done is the international airfield expansion that I had referred to, the 4.4 km of stormwater network that has gone into that. Those pipes are almost 2 m in diameter, so we've upsized those pipes. It was already planned, but across all of our developments, we've reviewed post that flood to ensure that we do have, I guess, upsizing of those pipes to meet that on a future basis. The 100 hectares actually runoff that had contributed to that flooding in 2023, that's what I was referring to on the video. That's the four and a half kilometers plus the coupled wetland biofilter. A repeat of that would not happen again with that new additional stormwater put in.
Across all of our projects, we've taken the opportunity to review to ensure that we are thinking ahead. If I may, it's interesting we had a study done, I think it was 2019, that indicated about flooding, and it said that Auckland Airport was set up well until the 2040s. What's changed, clearly that wasn't the case, is the intensity of the weather events. One is sea level rise, and those elements, what we're seeing is these intense weather events across New Zealand have changed, and we've taken that into account.
A comment about the queues. I was the person that described arriving at Auckland Airport as being akin to a zoo a couple of years ago at one of the meetings. I can report that in the few times that I've returned to Auckland Airport, the queues have been significantly reduced. Whatever you're doing seems to be working.
Thank you for that. The team have worked incredibly hard, and I've got to thank the team for putting the customer first. We're the conductor in an orchestra of a number of different parties and really bringing together all of those parties, the border agencies and others, to really try to deliver for passengers. I'm glad you've had a good experience, and hopefully we've taken good learnings from your earlier questions. Thank you.
Question over here.
Kia ora, John Thunne, shareholder, international traveler. One of the things I've noticed at international passenger terminals is the best experience is when you go from the terminal directly to the local train, underground system, straight to your hotel, one or two baggage changes. I came to a meeting here of Auckland International Airport probably 15- 20 years ago when they were doing another grand plan, and they had a corridor set aside for a train link to Puhinui. Now we have used the Puhinui bus link, and it's pretty good, but you do have to take your bags off, and the buses are tighter than the train. The trains in Auckland now are fast, efficient, clean, and you feel very safe. If you haven't used them lately, they're free, if you're Senior, d oes the corridor still exist, and how are we pushing Auckland Transport to get a good link? Because traveling straight to your hotel is a wonderful passenger experience. Thank you.
Look, thanks for your question. I will pass to Carrie in two seconds to make some additional comments. Corridors do still exist, and it is part of our longer-term plan. We've actually got plans behind what is the existing transport hub as well to accommodate in the future that public transport that no longer exists. I'll just ask Carrie to make a few more comments.
I love your question because it's really important. The master plan slide that I had up before, looking through to 2047, those corridors, as Julia said, do exist both to the north and to the south, so not just Puhinui, and working very closely for us, that multi-stakeholder group we talked about, Auckland Transport and NZTA. We spend a lot of time working on the greater regional connectivity, roading, trains, and those elements because it's really important. Earlier, we talked about, and Julia's addressed, that passengers are due to get to 38 million by the mid-2040s. Modal shift is fundamental for that in terms of whether that be busing, public transport, trains, etc., as part of that planning.
We're working very closely with all of the agencies to think about it from an Auckland regional perspective because we can't do it alone at the airport, nor can they do it alone. On the same page as you, sir.
Thank you. There's a question down here.
John Clearwater, a share holder. I have a great respect for the analytical capabilities of the big international reinsurance companies, and I'd like to know how the insurance premiums of the airport are tracking and any comments that you may have had from these big international companies.
Thank you. Actually, Stewart, I might pass to you. You've got the detail?
Auckland Airport's insurance costs, if you look back over recent years, have trended upwards, and that's not unique to us. It's consistent with really high costs of insurance right across the system. What we're seeing now is essentially some improvement in pricing and coverage levels in relation to insurance. Whilst the overall cost is going up, so is our asset base as well. When you think about it on a sort of per square meter basis, actually we're getting improved efficiency and coverage out of that as the market started to normalize post-COVID and post some of the disasters that we've been seeing both internationally and locally.
Thank you.
It's two or three years since I've been to Sydney, but I'm going to go again soon to see a son. I seem to recall that I had to face the digital kiosk when I went last time, and I nearly completely stuffed up the sticky baggage thing. I don't know how they read it when it got on the plane, and I did get off at the other end, thank goodness. What I really, I've printed out, I've printed out my booking. I've booked online, I've printed it all out, and I'm going to face the digital kiosk, and my eyesight is not great.
I'm really, really hoping that you will have nice ladies like they've got at Sydney to help me come back and put my baggage ticket on to make sure that I do everything right at the kiosk and the bag goes in the right place and I go in the right place. Digital's fine, but I'd still like somebody there to make sure I've done it right.
We're certainly trying to work towards smoother journeys. Do you want to be more specific, Carrie, or?
I hope you actually get that we have two options for you to get help. The first being that airlines generally staff those, and you have airline staff that should be helping you, but we also have customer experience staff that are more roving around the airport and tend to have a blue coat on and otherwise. Hopefully, between the airline and the airport, you are looked after because digital is great and it does provide things, but the human touch is something from a customer's journey that's really important.
Just one other trite question. When I got through last time to the area where you put your bags through the scanning, I had not known that you shouldn't wear a money belt under your shirt with a couple of credit cards and a small amount of cash that I thought couldn't be snatched in between getting from the airport to the hotel. They picked it up in the scanner, made me take my coat off, and then I got ticked off by this really bad-tempered woman for having dared to wear a money belt under my T-shirt and in my pants. My shirt was all lifted up and she was saying, "You can pull your shirt down now," and that should have gone through the scanner. I said, "Oh, for God's sake," I said, "My bags are going through the scanner. Just open it." I'd taken it off.
"Open it, you'll find my credit." She said, "In the future," she said, "Don't you waste our time like that." These are probably not people that the airport employs. They're probably government people or customs people, but gee, she was horrible.
I'm sorry for that experience.
Is it true that you can't wear a money belt?
It is absolutely true that you can't wear a money belt.
I found it in the instructions anywhere for my new flight, but maybe I just...
It's clothing only, anything that's got metal on it. Often a belt will trigger the machines. If you're wearing boots, you might have a really lovely pair of heeled boots. If it touches your ankles, you've got to take them off as well, coats as well.
I look forward to having a much nicer experience going through this time.
Save your money belt for when you've gone through, and then pop into the bathroom and you can do it then. Yes, it's just one of those international security requirements. I empathize with what happened. I think there's another question here.
Again, M. Nurki, a shareholder right from the beginning. Now what I want to, not disrespectful to any of you directors, but you had your raise up to about $26,000. Now when you look at, I've taken some data from Morningstar, one of the reputable bank companies that I deal with as my broker. The share price, the net return, we are taking from 2017 to present. The best year was 2018 when you retained a net return of 3.25%. Now you might give excuse COVID came and destroyed everything and you couldn't get on your feet, but it has been a while. Now take year 2024 and 2025. Your return is still, net return is 1.67%.
Any reputable, good, established company, we're not asking, I'm not asking a return of 10% or 7%, but at least we should deliver a return of at least 3.5% - 4% net return with the present climate, financial climate. How would you respond to that? I mean, you look after yourself. You gave the raise. What about to the shareholders? Shareholders, please wake up. I'm saying you're getting 1.6% return, net return. It's very nice to have a glamorous airport, 20 best airport in the world, and then all the facilities for the passengers, incoming passengers, night red carpet, and you know all. Who's paying for it? You, the shareholders, are paying for it. I'm saying, you know, you just, because let's face it, you just look around you. 60% of the people present here wouldn't be around, including me. What's the benefit?
What's the benefit for me getting a high rate later at five years, which is no good to me? I want it now. I'm not asking too much. All I'm asking is a reasonable amount, say about 4% return. That's my question.
Look, thank you for your question, and I appreciate your comments, and I appreciate your honesty to stand out and make those sorts of comments. Yes, I will turn to that COVID period where clearly the airport was virtually closed, but we still were required to maintain an airport, keep it going, and there was a huge amount of work that actually needed to occur during that period. Post-COVID, we've got the largest infrastructure build that we've had since the airport opened, and that is actually necessary to position the airport to actually take that not only the passenger growth, but also the cargo growth that both Carrie and I spoke about today. It's just not possible to continue without having that growth. There are no red carpets.
We're being really very, very careful in relation to how we do the build and the staging of the build to manage that growth in the most reasonable way while actually being fit for the future. As part of the growth and timing of the growth as well, one of the pieces here is also a contingent runway, which we need in Auckland for both safety and also to be able to do the much-needed runway repairs that we'll be required to do in around about 2030. All of that takes an enormous amount of time, brainpower. It takes some really good people around the table that work with management. We can challenge, we can share ideas, and really trying to get the best outcomes.
Also, from a New Zealand perspective at the moment, we're obviously in a very difficult situation where Air New Zealand has fleet constraints, both in terms of number of aircraft and also in relation to their engine issues, which is dampening the situation in the very short term for Air New Zealand. That is an issue that we need to face as well. We've also got a soft domestic economy that's had some flow-through effect as well, but we do think that the outlook is really, really positive. I appreciate that you're looking at a short-term piece, and I appreciate where you're at in relation to that. We need to think about also the medium and long-term value because if we curtail activity now, there will be no medium or long term because we just won't be fit to be able to handle what we need to handle.
Thank you for your question. It was a good one. Are there other questions in the room?
Yes, there's one at the back here.
I'm McLeod, shareholder. My question is to do with the holding of aviation fuel at the airport. I believe there's an agreement among airports that they must hold a certain amount of fuel in case of emergencies, and it's been pointed out that Auckland Airport is not up taking the figure that's required to keep flights in the air in the case of an emergency. Is there any reason this is happening? All our aviation fuel comes from Singapore.
Look, I'll pass to Carrie for the actual specific detail.
Thank you for the question, and fuel resilience is incredibly important for all airports, but clearly Auckland Airport is the gateway. There has been a law change this year that does require so that you've got a combination of fuel companies. You've got the three major fuel companies, and at Wiri here in Auckland is where you have a lot of the stock holding. You then have a pipeline that comes to the airport. We have holding at the airport, and obviously you've got Marsden Point and those elements. You've got multiple elements of holding, but that regulation change requires a minimum of 10 days holding to a certain percentage, and that's a change just in this last year to ensure that there is a resilience element. We spent a lot of time in that space.
There will be a future state in our infrastructure program where we will be moving where our current hydrants are that hold the Auckland Airport's component, but it is a combination. Auckland Airport holds required fuel. It was actually the fuel companies I think you might be referring to in that change in legislation, which we certainly welcomed if we think about some of the challenges over the last six or seven years from the pipeline to other elements. That'll make a difference.
Thank you. Look, I'm going to turn to the online group because I think there are a number of questions online. I'd like to give you the opportunity as well for questions. I'll pass to you, Lou, to read them out, please.
Thanks, Chair. At this stage, we have two online questions. The first is from Grant Plymouth. The annual report has very little information about what percentage of land is still available for commercial development. With a growing commercial property income, together with a substantial uptick in the valuation of these properties, this has had a significant positive impact on the bottom line. Please outline available space for more development and what projects are on the horizon.
Look, thanks, Lou. I actually might pass to our Head of Property, who will be able to give us a really good response to that. Mark Thomson is down here in the front.
Thank you for the question. We have about 1,500 hectares of land at the airport, and we have around about 80 hectares of developer land reserves in what we call the Landing Business Park, which gives us a good program and runway for future development. I think an important thing to understand is that as the airport develops, we're also recycling assets that were in the right location 30 or 40 years ago into locations that are more appropriate now. Our development program will also be about recycling assets, having better assets in the right location, and also creating efficiency for our core infrastructure.
I think the way to think about it is around about 80 hectares of land available for development, but a considerable pathway to ongoing development, asset recycling in our core so that our assets are in the right location for aviation and in the right location for efficiency in the areas that are more appropriate for them.
Thanks, Mark.
The next question is from Alan Turner. Why so many directors?
Okay. I think I did, Alan, answer that question, but I'm very happy to explain again. In New Zealand, I think the average number of directors is normally around about seven. Some boards have eight. We have eight directors. We conducted a really big exercise earlier this year independently to actually think about really seriously what sort of skills you require to have sitting around our board table to make sure that we're addressing all of the different things that are going on at the airport. Obviously, we've got the very large infrastructure build, which is quite unusual if you compare back to previous generations of directors and the sort of activities that were happening at the airport. In addition to that, we've had a lot of regulatory activity, and on top of that, we have our business as usual, aviation business. We've got a commercial property business.
We've got a retail business. There's a lot going on. To really service you, our shareholders, properly, we felt that we needed a board of eight. As I mentioned earlier, when we get through the commissioning of the domestic jet terminal, we will revisit that piece because with that very large infrastructure build behind us, we will revisit whether the number is right, and we'll obviously keep looking at that as we move forward. At this particular point in time, we genuinely believe that eight directors serves you best for us to be able to robustly carry out the governance that we think we need to. Thank you for your question.
There are no further questions online.
Thanks, Lou. Are there any other final questions? There's one over here in the room, then one here as well.
Yes, Michael Shroff, shareholder, again. I just thought of something. Am I right in saying that you've lost or you're about to lose one of your duty-free firms because there were two, there's only going to be one? Am I right in saying that? That's not a particularly satisfactory situation for us travellers.
We are moving from two to one. A lot of work that's been done around that, but Carrie, I think we're still with the one now, still the cheapest prices in Australasia, but Carrie, over to you.
Yes, absolutely. The 1st of July this year was the eight-year contract that was signed with Lagardère that I was referring to in my presentation. It was a year ago prior to that that we had an interim contract to move from the two to one. What's fundamentally changed is a couple of things. One in regards to digital anymore that people can price check very easily in terms of that competitiveness and understanding, and we work very hard and as part of our agreement have things around price competitiveness as part of that. The other is around trying to broaden the offer. We had had considerable feedback from travelers around their view of the breadth of products instead of having, I don't know, Sauvignon Blanc on the right of the aisle and the same Sauvignon Blanc on the left of the aisle by two different providers.
You could actually take that footprint and broaden much more into things like New Zealand provenance, electronics, and other elements. We have broadened that, and that also was direct off the feedback from travelers and consumers of looking for that. We are relatively early. As I said, 1st of July, they've come into place, and that expansion and refurbishment will be happening over the next six to eight months in 2026 to ensure that it's set up appropriately and we've got the maximizing the breadth of offering for our travelers.
Thanks, Carrie. There was a question over here. Thank you.
Thank you. Kevin Tate, shareholder. Could you comment on the success or otherwise of the retail centre? I think you called the outlet centre. It seems to be a very lonely place to visit, if my experience is.
No, that's...
Thank you.
I'll start, and then I might get Mark to talk to it. I don't know, as a shopper, I'm not lonely when I'm shopping. I'm straight in there. No, just kidding. It has performed very well, and the concept of having a retail premium outlet next to an airport is not a new concept. We shamelessly looked at other airports that had those overseas as models and examples because there's a nice fit as people are coming potentially to drop family off to the airport that you've got those opportunities. Also, remembering we have a workforce of 25,000 employees that work at the airport precinct, not for Auckland Airport but across all of the providers. It's like a small city and the ability they have needs and services and shopping that they require as well. It is performing very well.
Of the 117 stores, our vacancy is one store is vacant. It's been open 13 months. Retailers are incredibly pleased, and as part of that proposition, there were 21 first-of-type stores to New Zealand. It's met a niche in the market a little bit. If we think about, we know that the economy has been subdued because it is a premium outlet centre. We are finding that that niche of people wanting some of those nicer items, but not necessarily wanting to pay full price for them, that it is giving an option. We've done the hours. I'd be interested when you were there. We've purposefully also done the hours. It doesn't open until 10:00 A.M., and it closes at 7:00 P.M. We designed it that way to avoid the peak traffic traveling.
Our core business is an airport, and we want to ensure the roading network and those elements are focused on that. It complements very nicely, but we've been very, very pleased with the performance, as have been the retailers themselves. Anything, Mark, that you want to add that I haven't covered? Great. Thank you.
Thank you for that question. I don't think there are any other questions in the room.
Thank you everyone for your questions today. That brings to an end this year's annual meeting. I really thank you all for your participation, and also thank you as our shareholders for your ongoing support of Auckland International Airport Limited. On that note, I invite those of you who are in the room today to please join us, the Directors and also the management team, the company's auditors, for some refreshments, which you'll see down at the end of the room. For those of you online, thanks for joining us today, and apologies again for the dropout of the video piece during today's session. I declare the meeting closed. Thank you very much.