Sydney Airport has posted its highest monthly increase in international travellers so far in calendar 2017 as airlines add more flights and upgauge equipment on existing routes.
The airport said on Thursday the number of international travellers passing through its terminals rose 9.7 per cent to 1.23 million in June, compared with the prior corresponding period.
Meanwhile, domestic passengers at Sydney Airport increased 3.6 per cent to 2.13 million in June, compared with the same month a year ago. Overall, Sydney Airport posted a 5.8 per cent improvement in passenger numbers in the month to 3.36 million.
Sydney Airport chief executive Kerrie Mather said the strong growth in international passenger numbers was a fantastic result.
“International and domestic traffic continues to be driven by higher load factors and larger aircraft,” Mather said in a statement.
“Our international markets continue to perform well, particularly to China, and follows the Open Skies agreement between the two countries in December 2016.”
Sydney Airport noted South Korean flag carrier Asiana had scheduled the Airbus A380 to operate on the Sydney-Seoul Icheon route for the entire 2017 Northern Winter timetable season, which represented an additional 40,000 seats compared with the prior corresponding period.
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific has replaced some Airbus A330-300 services between Sydney and Hong Kong with the larger three-class Boeing 777-300ER.
New international routes from Sydney to have been launched in recent times include Qantas’s return to Beijing, Vietnam Airlines starting nonstop flights to Hanoi and Air China commencing nonstop Sydney-Chengdu service.
Sydney Airport was due to release its financial results for the six months to June 30 2017 on August 22.
