Australia's busiest airports of Melbourne and Sydney reported higher passenger numbers for the traditionally busy month of December, ahead of the Christmas holiday period.
Sydney's throughput of 3.58mn passengers was 16pc up on a year earlier and its highest monthly figure since 2019, representing a 91pc recovery compared with 3.95mn in December 2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the airport reported on 22 January.
Last year saw passenger numbers at Sydney airport up by 33pc on 2022, although it remained 13pc below the annual record of 44.44mn set in 2019.
Airline capacity continues to affect passenger volumes and travel habits are yet to return to pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels, said Sydney Airport's chief executive Scott Charlton. Its passenger traffic reporting will now be published quarterly instead of monthly, with January-March data to be released in April.
Australia's second-busiest airport Melbourne recorded its highest monthly passenger numbers since the pandemic, also setting a new monthly record for the number of international flights handled in December with 4,976 movements surpassing the 4,834 handled in January 2020.
The total passenger numbers for December of 3.09mn marked a 17pc increase on a year earlier when 2.64mn passed through domestic and international gates. It was last higher in December 2019 when 3.32mn travellers arrived or departed from the airport.
Domestic passengers were up by 10pc and international travellers by 35pc from a year earlier, Melbourne Airport said on 11 January.
Government-owned airspace traffic manager Airservices Australia said the nation's active aircraft fleet has now exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with continuing fleet renewal aimed at boosting capacity.
Australia's jet fuel sales averaged 144,000 b/d during January-November 2023, according to Australian Petroleum Statistics (APS) data, while imports have averaged 118,000 b/d or 44pc above the year-earlier figure. About 161,000 b/d of jet fuel was sold in 2019, according to APS.
| Australia air passenger numbers (mn) | ||||||
| Sydney Airport | ||||||
| Dec '23 | Nov '23 | Dec '22 | YTD 2023 | YTD 2022 | YTD 2019 | |
| Domestic | 2.08 | 2.15 | 1.94 | 24.11 | 20.89 | 27.54 |
| International | 1.50 | 1.26 | 1.16 | 14.54 | 8.23 | 16.90 |
| Total | 3.58 | 3.41 | 3.09 | 38.65 | 29.12 | 44.44 |
| Melbourne Airport | ||||||
| Domestic | 2.05 | 2.09 | 1.87 | 23.42 | 20.47 | 26.04 |
| International | 1.04 | 0.88 | 0.77 | 10.02 | 5.39 | 11.41 |
| Total | 3.09 | 2.97 | 2.64 | 33.44 | 25.86 | 37.45 |
| Source: Sydney, Melbourne airports | ||||||
