Australian airports have been busy this year, with a record number of people travelling to and from the country during the first three months.
According to preliminary Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures, for March alone, some 700,000 Australians headed overseas for a short holiday – up around 35,000 on the prior month.
671,500 travellers arrived in the country for a visit of less than 12 months – up 12 percent on the same month last year.
Record number of Australians flying in and out of the country so far.
Overall for the first three months of the year, 1.9 million people arrived in the country for a short visit, as 2,130 people left.
Tourism Australia’s Managing Director John O’Sullivan said growth was an ‘impressive milestone’ and demonstrated ‘the continuing strength of the industry’.
“What’s particularly pleasing is that this eight per cent growth in our international numbers is being matched in spending, the key measure of our long term tourism strategy.”
John O’Sullivan, Tourism Australia MD
Of those coming into the country, NSW was the key destination, attracting 264,800 visitors in March, followed by Victoria, Queensland and then Western Australia.
And popular destinations for Australians heading out on holidays included Athens, Ho Chi Minh, Toronto, Istanbul and Barcelona, according to Kayak.com.
Increased passenger traffic is boosting Virgin’s business.
The growth in inbound and outbound travel, contributed to rising passenger numbers on Australian airlines – Qantas and Virgin Australia.
For the quarter ending 31 March 2015, Virgin reported an underlying profit loss before tax of $22 million – representing a $61 million improvement on the same period the prior year.
On international flights, Virgin carried 673,370 passengers – up 4.3 percent on the corresponding period.
Qantas is also benefiting from international movement.
Meanwhile, Qantas said it carried 493,000 international passengers in March – up 7.6 percent on March 2014.
And Jetstar’s international services flew 427,000 travellers – up 8.1 percent.