The number of Australian passengers passing through Auckland Airport continues to grow, with the airport’s latest traffic update showing an 11.2% increase in Australian arrivals in August.

Thanks largely to a jump in numbers from Sydney and Melbourne, it follows a 22.3% jump in July.

New Zealand also appears to be attracting more visitors from the United States, with the airport figures showing a 3.9% rise in arrivals from the States, the largest increase for that market seen all year.

There were also increases in the number of visitors from Germany and Canada.

But Japanese arrivals remain low, down 39.5% in August after July’s 57.9% drop.

Visitor numbers from the UK were also down 20.2%, with China, Korea and Fiji numbers also falling.

Overall, international passenger numbers using Auckland Airport fell by 1.2%, with total passenger traffic declining by 4% when the reduction in transit and transfers is factored in.

In total, 577,838 international visitors used the airport for the month, compared to 601,993 in the previous August.

The low fares caused by increased competition has seen a rise in domestic passenger volumes for the month, up 3.7% on August 2008 to 470,024.