Meet The Winners: Melbourne Airport

Attending Routes Asia 2024 in Langkawi, Melbourne Airport (MEL) spoke to Routes on what it meant to be crowned the winner of the Over 20 Million Passengers category at the Routes Awards. 

Welcoming more than 30.8 million passengers in 2023, MEL had a remarkable year for growth, becoming the first major Australian airport to fully recover its international seat capacity to 2019 levels. In December 2023, the airport set a record for international flight movements after securing an impressive selection of airlines, reaching an international seat capacity of 101% compared to December 2019. Michael Cullen, senior vice president and head of airline business development at Melbourne Airport, said that 15% of the growth came from new airlines and services that didn’t operate pre-pandemic.

The airport has continued its growth into 2024, with monthly passenger figures showing a healthy increase. In January 2024, total passengers grew by 16% compared to the same period in 2023, reaching over 3.1 million passengers. International travelers in February 2024 represented 102% of the airport's previous busiest February in 2019.

MEL recently welcomed Turkish Airlines, the only European airline serving the city, which launched its first-ever Australian. The 3X-weekly flight from iGA Istanbul Airport (IST) to Melbourne via Singapore Changi International Airport (SIN) began in March.

The airport has also experienced a healthy recovery across the Asia-Pacific region, with traffic between Melbourne and Vietnam up 25.7% compared to 2019 levels. Vietnamese LCC VietJet announced new routes from Ho Chi Minh City to MEL, which began in April, and 2X-weekly services from Hanoi set to commence on June 3.

Chinese market recovery is also gaining pace, with Beijing Capital Airlines commencing flights to Hangzhou in June 2024 with a 3X-weekly service, taking MEL's capacity in the Chinese market back to 91% of pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, nonstop capacity to and from India has grown by 300%, supported by the recent addition of the 3X-weekly Air India service to Mumbai, marking the first nonstop route between the state of Victoria and the Indian city.

The airport's achievements have not gone unrecognized. Having been named the winners of the Over 20 Million Passenger category at the Routes Awards in Langkawi, Cullen said, “It’s enormously humbling. It reflects the nature of how we deal with our airlines, which is very much a partnership approach. Our success is their success, so I think it’s a reflection of the joint partnerships in place and the collaboration we like to show in Melbourne.”

MEL was also named the ‘Best Airport in Australia and the Pacific’ at the Skytrax World Airport Awards earlier this year.

Located within Australia’s largest city, the airport hopes to expand its capacity and continue to grow, having submitted plans for a parallel north-south runway, which will be a critical piece of infrastructure to accommodate international airlines.