Sydney Airport passenger numbers up in August

Sydney Airport. (Lee Gatland)

Sydney Airport has reported a 1.7 per cent increase in passenger numbers for August, led by healthy growth in international travellers.

The airport handled 3.256 million passengers in August, up 54,000 from the prior corresponding period, Sydney Airport said on Friday.

The number of international travellers rose 3.4 per cent to 1.106 million, while domestic passengers were up 0.8 per cent at 2.15 million.

“Load factor increases in international markets and seat capacity increases domestically highlight the continued underlying demand for air travel,” Sydney Airport chief executive Kerrie Mather said in a statement.

Mather said load factors on international flights rose 3.1 percentage points in August, with double-digit percentage increases from China, Singapore, India and Hong Kong passport holders.

On the domestic front, Mather said both Virgin Australia and Qantas added capacity in August, compared with the prior corresponding period, with seat capacity rising 2.9 per cent in the month.