Passenger numbers at Brisbane Airport continue to increase with more than 5.7 million international and domestic passengers travelling through the airport in the three months to the end of September.
International passenger numbers grew by 5.8 per cent year-on-year, attributable to new services or additional frequencies offered by airlines including Hawaiian Airlines, Etihad, Qantas, Malaysia Airlines, Garuda and Philippine Airlines.
During the period a new monthly record of nearly 423,000 international passengers was set in July 2013, surpassing the previous record of two years ago by nearly 5,000 travellers.
The source markets driving the strong growth were: Australian residents (+10 per cent), China (+22 per cent), Singapore (+37 per cent), Indonesia (+43 per cent), India (+17 per cent), Hong Kong (+25 per cent), Malaysia (+20 per cent), United Arab Emirates (+72 per cent) and the United Kingdom (+2 per cent).
Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Julieanne Alroe said: “The growth in international travellers is a real turnaround from last year and a result of the additional seat capacity and attractive airfares on offer.”
The airport is set to maintain steady growth in international traffic as a result of another influx of travellers from Britain expected in November for the Ashes Cricket Test and additional seats on offer by Qantas, EVA Air and China Airlines from December 2013 with China Southern boosting capacity in November.
Domestically, Brisbane Airport recorded flat results year-on-year, with an increase of just 0.6 per cent, up 27,200 passengers to over 4.4 million for the quarter.
Reflecting a fierce capacity battle between the major airlines, an additional 320,000 seats were offered compared with first quarter of FY13, significantly depressing load factors.
More capacity is expected to be added in the coming quarter, with Jetstar adding more flights to Mackay, Melbourne and Sydney and launching a new route to Hobart, while Virgin Australia will introduce a new twice-weekly Cloncurry-BNE service at the end of November.
