Air New Zealand (NZE:AIR, ASX:AIZ) group capacity rose 4.2% year on year in January, according to a Thursday filing with the Australian and New Zealand bourses.

Long-haul available seat kilometers (ASKs) rose 1.6%, and domestic ASKs climbed 0.8%, the filing said. Short-haul international ASKs grew over 10% year on year, helped by the arrival of two new A321 aircraft.

Group year-to-date underlying revenue per available seat kilometer surged 1.7% from the prior year.

The airline carried 1.2 million passengers in January, unchanged from the year-earlier period, per the filing.

The passenger load factor fell to just over 85%, down from around 88% a year earlier.

The company's Kiwi shares rose past 2% in recent Thursday trade, while its Australia shares soared almost 3%.