International traffic up in October

New statistics from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) show that there was a 9.6 per cent jump in international passenger traffic during October, primarily driven by a major increase in activity from low cost carriers.

Overall, 2.202 million passengers travelled into and out of Australia during the month, and follows a strong upward trend in passenger traffic despite the global economic crisis. It was also driven by a 7.2 per cent increase in available seats, while seat utilisation was also higher at 78.4 per cent.

Of the 51 international scheduled airlines operating to Australia, Qantas had the highest marketshare at 20.3 per cent, although this represents a decrease of 4.2 percentage points. This was compensated for by Jetstar’s 2.3 percentage point increase in its marketshare, which was recorded at eight per cent. Overall, Australian designated airlines increased their marketshare by 0.4 percentage points to 32.7 per cent.