Sydney Airport was just shy of reaching 90 per cent of June 2019 passenger traffic numbers with more than three million travellers passing through domestic and international terminals in June 2023.
A total of 3.06 million passengers passed through Sydney Airport in June 2023, an increase of 500,000 from May 2023 and before the expected spike for the July school holidays.
Sydney Airport’s T1 international terminal recorded 1.16 million passengers (88.8% of June 2019 levels), while domestic passenger traffic hit 1.9 million travellers in June 2023 (90.6% of June 2019 levels).
In year-to-date performance, international passenger traffic is up a whopping 150.8 per cent and domestic pax numbers up 26.1 per cent compared to 2022.
Chinese travellers fuelling growth
An influx of Chinese visitors due to increased airline capacity between Sydney and mainland China was attributed to the boost in international travellers.
For the third month in a row, Chinese travellers ranked third in the top 10 nationalities travelling through Sydney Airport with June 2023 passenger numbers at 69 per cent of June 2019 levels.
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said: “International passenger numbers are now closing in on pre-pandemic levels with strong demand on the mainland China route helping drive the recovery.”
“As demand grows, the seven Chinese carriers operating out of Sydney are continuing to add capacity with 51 return services now flying weekly.
“The international passenger recovery is now close to surpassing the domestic recovery, which has remained largely stagnant over the last year.”
Domestic recovery dragging
In comparison, Mr Culbert noted that steep airfares and high cancellation rates on busy domestic routes are suppressing demand.
“In the 12 months to June, Sydney to Melbourne passenger numbers were just 81 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels, while numbers between Sydney and Canberra were only 64 per cent recovered,” he said. “It will be interesting to see if this is a long-term trend.”
“If incumbent airlines have decided to fly less between key domestic markets they should relinquish slots to domestic and international carriers who want to operate out of Sydney Airport and provide more choice for customers.”
