Melbourne Airport sees growing numbers from Asia

Melbourne Airport has reported another month of strong growth in international passengers but declining domestic travel.

Passenger numbers at Melbourne Tullamarine ticked upwards in January as the airport continued a trend of solid international growth combined with slight domestic losses.

Overall passenger number for for the month were up 0.9 per cent over January 2011 to nearly 2.5 million. International passengers increased by 5.8 per cent as domestic carriage dropped by less than 1 per cent.

Passengers arriving on Chinese passports were up more than 30 per cent as Taiwanese arrivals grew 24 per cent, reflecting long running trends toward Asian tourism and the effects of the Chinese New Year holiday, Melbourne Airport said.