SYDNEY: Australia's Sydney Airport has seen a total of 10.3 million passengers pass through its terminals in the first quarter of this year, marking a 14.4-per cent jump from the same period in 2023 and a 93.7 per cent recovery compared to Q1 2019, reported Xinhua.
As per a quarterly report on traffic and operational performance released on Monday, the airport's international terminal served 4.16 million passengers in Q1, rising 25.1 per cent from the same period 2023 while registering a 96.6 per cent recovery rate on Q1 2019.
Domestic and regional passenger traffic was up 8.2 per cent year-on-year, with 6.16 million passengers coming through the two domestic terminals and a 91.9 per cent recovery rate on the same quarter in 2019.
During Q1, travellers holding Australian passports grew 3.1 per cent compared to Q1 2019, with the number of passengers from New Zealand, South Korea, India, and the Philippines also above 2019 levels.
Chinese passengers remained the number one overseas visitors to Sydney Airport, representing a recovery rate of 82.4 per cent.
Sydney Airport Chief Executive Officer Scott Charlton said the strong start to the year sets a positive trajectory for the airport's growth.
"It took us 100 years to reach our first billion passengers, from 1919 to 2019. We're forecast to hit 2 billion within the next 20 years, and we'll get there by working closely with our airline partners, improving our operational performance, and unlocking capacity through targeted investments," he said.
According to Charlton, higher airfares, lack of capacity, and a downturn in discretionary business travel have affected demand on the domestic front, whereas relatively higher seat capacity and competition on major international routes underpinned strong international passenger volumes in Q1.
"Performance levels through Q1 were strong across security throughput, on-time departures and traffic flowed well in and out of the precinct," he added. – BERNAMA