The most recent figures from the Australian Government show that Sydney Airport handles about 45% of Australia’s international traffic. It is the gateway to Australia and the hub for Oceania with connections to 20 domestic, 22 regional destinations and 14 destinations across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Sydney Airport’s most recent traffic figures confirm that the recovery evident in late 2009 is continuing into 2010.
The monthly figures for January show that international traffic is up 11.5% over last year, meaning that the strong growth recorded in the final quarter of 2009 remains continues. The final quarter of 2009 recorded international traffic growth of 10.1% over the previous corresponding period.
The major markets to grow by double figures in January included the USA (+18%); Korea (+25%); Germany (+14%); France (+17%) and Australia (+20%).
Russell Balding, Sydney Airport CEO, said that this resilient performance emphasised the fundamental strength of Sydney Airport’s position as Australia’s national gateway.
“With over 1,097,000 passengers, January was Sydney’s highest ever international result. It was also the third month that we exceeded three million total passengers following similar performances in October and December last year.
“In total, we recorded 33 million passengers in 2009 – an increase of 0.4% over 2008. This growth was achieved even though globally there was a decrease in the number of passengers.
“Given the impact of the global financial crisis and the worldwide Swine Flu epidemic, this was an outstanding result that emphasised the competitive strength of Sydney Airport,” he adds.
In 2009 growth was helped by four airlines establishing new services at Sydney Airport. Delta Air Lines and V Australia each commenced services to Los Angeles and Air Austral commenced its Sydney–Reunion Island–Paris service. Domestically, Tiger Airways launched services to Melbourne, Adelaide and the Gold Coast.
Plus, in 2009 Emirates started flying the A380 to Sydney, meaning there are now three airlines flying that aircraft from Sydney – Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Emirates – meaning that Sydney now handles 60 A380 movements each week.
Related Content
