Sunshine Coast Airport has underlined its status as Australia’s fastest growing airport by reaching the one million passenger mark in a 12-month period for the first time.
The airport, located about 100km north of Brisbane, announced that it had reached the milestone on Wednesday.
Figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) showed there were 13 airports that handled more than one million international and domestic passengers in the 2015/16 financial year – Newcastle (Williamtown), Launceston, Darwin, Hobart, Canberra, Cairns, Gold Coast, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.
Sunshine Coast was 14th in terms of passenger traffic in the 12 months to June 30 2016, with 958,119 travellers passing through its terminals on domestic and international flights.
The airport is on the lookout for more international flights after it was officially designated an Australian international airport in October.
Meanwhile, a proposed new runway and other planned works around the airport would also allow airlines to use widebodied aircraft to Sunshine Coast.
Sunshine Coast Airport celebrated the achievement with a video on its YouTube channel:
Sunshine Coast airport general manager Peter Pallot said reaching the one million passenger mark highlighted the recent growth in services at the airport.
“Each month, we continue to achieve new highs in passenger numbers, but to reach the million mark for the year is something extra special,” Pallot said in a statement.
In recent times, Qantas has resumed flights to Sunshine Coast, while Jetstar and Virgin Australia have added extra services.
Further, Air New Zealand has extended its seasonal service to Auckland.
“Reaching one million passengers for the year is the pinnacle of that sustained growth and investment by the airlines in our region,” Mayor Mark Jamieson said.
