Auckland International Airport, the country's biggest gateway, flagged monthly gains in both international and domestic passenger numbers in December.
Total international passenger movements, stripping out transits, rose 5.9 per cent to 697,000 in December from the same month a year earlier, driven by a 10 per cent lift in Australian arrivals and a 29 per cent jump in Chinese visitors.
Domestic passenger numbers gained 6.5 per cent to almost 562,000 in the month.
The airport said the increase in Chinese visitors came after the start of daily services from China Southern Airline in November, while domestic operators Air New Zealand and Jetstar reported passenger growth on local routes.
Total international aircraft movements rose 3.7 per cent to 4,008 in the period and domestic plane movements fell 0.2 per cent to 9,427 in December.
Queenstown Airport, of which Auckland International Airport owns a quarter, reported an 8.4 per cent monthly gain in international passengers to 14,463, and a 10 per cent lift in domestic numbers to 74,719.
The Auckland airport operator also has stakes in Australia's Cairns and Mackay airports.
Cairns reported a 4.8 per cent decline in total international passengers to 62,106 and a 2.2 per cent fall to 266,000 domestic passengers. Mackay lifted domestic passenger numbers 1.3 per cent to almost 92,000 in December.
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