New figures from the Bureau of Infrstructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) show that international passenger traffic again grew strongly during March 2010, continuing an upward trend being driven by low cost carriers.
Passenger numbers increased by 14.2 per cent during the month compared to March 2009 to 2.137 million, which is the largest single month increase since March 2005. The increase in passenger numbers was related to a 7.2 per cent increase in the number of seats available. Seat utilisation increased from 69.6 per cent to 73.9 per cent compared to the same time last year.
Qantas ceded some marketshare but remained the largest carrier of passengers in and out of the country with a 19.4 per cent share of international traffic. Australian designated airlines decreased their market share by 1.3 percentage points to 32.7 per cent. Low cost carriers increased their share by 2.9 percentage points to 18.8 per cent of total traffic for the month, aided by increased frequencies from carriers including AirAsia X, Jetstar and Pacific Blue.
