Australian airports attract passengers

Sydney and Melbourne airports book solid passengers numbers for 2015, with Sydney Airport attracting a record number of travellers.

Travellers at Sydney International Airport

Australia's two biggest airports continue to benefit from a boom in international travellers. (AAP)

Australia's two biggest airports continue to benefit from a boom in travellers, with visitors from Asia, the UK and the US arriving in droves.

A record 39.7 million travellers passed through Sydney Airport's three terminals in 2015, up three per cent on 38.5 million a year earlier.

International passengers were up 4.3 per cent at 13.7 million, while the domestic market rose 2.3 per cent to 25.9 million, according to figures released by Sydney Airport.

A handful of airlines started operating at Sydney Airport in the year, including American Airlines and Hainan Airlines.

American Airlines touched down at Sydney Airport for the first time in 23 years in December, Sydney Airport chief executive Kerrie Mather said.

"The US is the most popular destination for Sydneysiders and this expanded partnership will increase capacity between Sydney and the US by 25 per cent, or 225,000 seats, annually," she said.

Melbourne Airport posted a four per cent increase in passenger numbers to 33 million in 2015, from 31.7 million in 2014.

The airport posted particularly strong international passenger growth of nine per cent to 8.7 million-plus in 2015, from 8.1 million.

North Asia led international growth in 2015 with China the standout market, growing by more than 25 per cent, according to Melbourne Airport figures.

Melbourne Airports's domestic passengers increased by three per cent to 24.2 million.

Several airlines started operating at Melbourne Airport in 2015, including Scoot Airlines, China Airlines and Indonesia Air Asia X.

Qantas, United Airlines, Jetstar, Air China and Etihad Airways also added services to Melbourne during the year.


Share
2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Australian airports attract passengers | SBS News