Sydney Airport saw 10.3 million passengers through its terminals between January – March 2024 with Australian passport holder traveller numbers up 3.1 per cent compared to Q1 2019, representing increased confidence and international travel demand for a 93.7 per cent recovery rate of pre-pandemic levels.
SYD T1 International Terminal recorded a 25.1 per cent increase with 4.16 million passengers in Q1 and a 96.6 per cent recovery rate on Q1 2019.
Domestic traffic was up 8.2 per cent with 6.6 million passengers in Q1 – 91.9 per cent of Q1 2019 numbers.
Most passengers travelling through SYD in Q1 hailed from Australia, China and New Zealand with travellers from the US and UK rounding out the top five nationalities.
The luxe hub also saw an increase in travellers from South Korea (up 21%), India (up 6.2%) and the Philippines (up 17.9% on Q1 2019) making it into the top 10 list.
Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton said 2024’s strong start sets a positive trajectory driven by increased international capacity and competition.
“The Q1 passenger data shows us that on the domestic front, higher airfares, lack of capacity and a downturn in discretionary business travel has affected demand,” he said.
“This is contrasted with relatively higher seat capacity and competition on major international routes, which underpinned strong international passenger volumes for the quarter.”
Seamless security movements through Sydney Airport
Charlton said SYD also launched a live feed during Q1 to monitor security wait times and allow passengers to check the progress of terminal queues via the website.
During Q1, 100 per cent of domestic travellers and 99.9 per cent of international passengers passed through security in under 10 minutes.
“Performance levels through Q1 were strong across security, on-time departures and traffic flowed well in and out of the precinct,” he said.
“We’re going to continue to be more transparent of our operational metrics as well as working with airlines to deliver extra seat capacity and secure new services as we grow the airport’s capacity.”
For more info, head to sydneyairport.com.au
