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Adelaide Airport posts slight drop in international passengers in 2015/16

written by australianaviation.com.au | August 30, 2016

Adelaide Airport has logged continued growth on the back of improved load factors and increased capacity.
Adelaide Airport.

Adelaide Airport suffered a drop in international passengers in 2015/16 due to the withdrawal of AirAsia X’s service to Kuala Lumpur.

The airport handled 858,000 international travellers in the 12 months to June 30 2016, a decline of 8.3 per cent from 936,000 in the prior corresponding period.

“The (-8.3 per cent) decline in passengers observed over the financial year reflects the cancellation of the daily AirAsia X service in January 2015,” Adelaide Airport said in its quarterly traffic report.

“Combined with the Malaysia Airlines reductions in September 2015, there was a net reduction of 10 services per week to Kuala Lumpur.”

Malaysia Airlines cut its daily flight to Adelaide to four flights per week, while AirAsia X dropped the route entirely as the low-cost carrier battled to turnaround heavy financial losses.

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On a positive note, Adelaide received new long-haul service to Doha from Qatar Airways with Airbus A350-900 equipment in May, helping offset the reductions from the two Malaysian carriers.

The airport is also preparing to welcome new nonstop flights to Guangzhou with China Southern starting in December.

Domestic passengers at Adelaide rose 1.9 per cent in 2015/16, as new nonstop flights to Melbourne (Avalon) started in March and the number of travellers to the the other mainland capitals increased – Sydney grew 3.3 per cent, Melbourne was 2.4 per cent higher and Brisbane was up 4.3 per cent.

And looking ahead, Jetstar has scheduled a new three-times-a-week Adelaide-Sunshine Coast service with Airbus A320s starting on September 30.

Overall, there were 7.893 million passengers at Adelaide Airport in 2015/16, an 0.7 per cent improvement from 7.842 million in the prior year.

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Comments (6)

  • Stephen

    says:

    12 gates – 2 aircraft. Presume not busy at ADL airport

  • Gary

    says:

    That was a file photo taken either just before or just after the new Terminal opening a number of years ago.

  • Tom Osborn

    says:

    That photo was taken many years ago because of the 777-200 from malaysian and singapore, we are much busier now!

  • Damian

    says:

    Presumed wrong Stephen. Old domestic terminal was still in operation when that photo was taken due to underground fuel pipes not being ready for use. Not enough gates these days.

  • Ben

    says:

    Only been to ADL once. However very impressed with the terminal. Logical layout and very bright, modern and spacious. Mind you, by all reports, the good citizens of Adelaide had to endure substandard facilities for a long time before it was built. Hopefully the slight decline in international passengers is just a blip. Growth should hopefully be sustained through the middle eastern and Chinese carriers. Also now that Qantas is firmly back in the black can they perhaps launch or restart international services in future? I’m thinking Singapore, Hong Kong or maybe Auckland. I also wonder if direct services to the US would ever be viable one day. ADL-LAX is 7,097 nm, so could probably be viable when the 787 comes into service. Also ADL-HNL is only 4,941 nm so surely that’s a potential destination for an airline like Jetstar.

  • Christopher

    says:

    Surely a twice weekly Fiji-Adelaide service could work? I can see Fiji Airways flying a 737 to ADL.
    Didn’t VA at one point fly this route?

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