Brisbane Airport reports strong lift in international passengers

It was the fastest pace of growth since 2004/05, when international traffic jumped 19 per cent according to the Brisbane Airport website.

Brisbane Airport chief executive Julieanne Alroe noted there were an additional 425,700 seats to and from the airport in 2016/17, including new flights from Air Canada, China Eastern and Malindo Air, while other carriers boosted frequencies on existing routes.

“The real gains this year have been made through the increase in international travel which has been stimulated by a 7.9 per cent boost in overseas flights,” Alroe said in a statement on Friday.

“Consistently high loads have contributed to this great result.”

There will be further growth in international flights in the current year, with Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and China Airlines all scheduling frequency increases, while Hainan Airlines is launching new flights to Shenzhen.

In contrast to the strong growth in international traffic, domestic passenger numbers at Brisbane Airport was flat in 2016/17, edging just 0.2 per cent higher to 17.2 million.

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Brisbane Airport said domestic traffic was “heavily impacted by Cyclone Debbie and capacity consolidation”.

Total passenger numbers rose 1.8 per cent to 22.9 million.

Meanwhile, Sydney Airport has reported a 3.7 per cent increase in total passengers for July.

International passenger numbers rose 6.7 per cent in the month to 1.4 million, compared with the prior corresponding period, while domestic passengers rose two per cent to 2.4 million, Sydney Airport said on Friday.

Sydney Airport chief executive Kerrie Mather said July’s international figures were underpinned by 5.5 per cent capacity growth and one percentage point increase in average load factors.