Sydney Airport Q2 Traffic Sees 6.4% Increase

Xinhua

Sydney: Australia’s Sydney Airport saw 9.7 million travelers pass through its terminals in the second quarter (Q2) of this year. This marks a 6.4 per cent increase from the same period last year, though it remains below pre-COVID levels.

The latest report, released on Tuesday, indicated that 3.8 million passengers used the international terminal in Q2, a 12.1 percent rise year-on-year, achieving a 94.3 per cent recovery rate compared to Q2 2019. Domestic and regional traffic increased by 3 per cent from the previous year, with 6 million passengers traveling through domestic terminals, reaching a 90.5 percent recovery rate compared to Q2 2019.

Sydney Airport Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Scott Charlton attributed the strong international passenger volumes to increased seat capacity in markets such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.

“This was supported by added frequencies, including Thai Airways’ new daily service to Bangkok, Jetstar’s new three-weekly service to Osaka, and VietJet Air’s twice-weekly service to Hanoi,” Scott added.

On the domestic front, Charlton noted a “lag relative to international” due to higher airfares, limited capacity, and reduced discretionary business travel. He also highlighted the airport’s focus on implementing the Harris Review Recommendations to improve reliability and passenger service.

“Last Friday’s global technology outage also impacted recovery efforts, with some airlines taking days to restore schedules. The implementation of a recovery mechanism could have mitigated this impact, which is why we are eager to work with the government to implement it as soon as possible,” Charlton added.