Sydney Airport passenger numbers up 4.1 per cent in August

International airlines carried 1.29 million passengers to and from Sydney Airport in August. (Seth Jaworski)

Sydney Airport has reported a 4.1 per cent increase in passenger numbers for August, underpinned by higher load factors on international services.

There were 3.5 million travellers through Sydney Airport in August, compared with 3.40 million in the same month a year earlier.

International passengers rose 8.3 per cent in the month to 1.29 million, while the number of domestic passengers was 1.9 per cent higher at 2.25 million, Sydney Airport said in a regulatory filing to the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday.

Sydney Airport chief executive Kerrie Mather said the international traffic growth was a fantastic result, while the domestic traffic growth was solid.

“The international result was driven by 5.9 per cent capacity growth and 1.6 percentage point increase in average load factors,” Mather said in a regulatory filing to the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday.

Mather said upcoming new flights to Sydney, such as the start of Qantas’s Osaka flights, Emirates’ fourth daily Dubai rotation and United commencing nonstop service to Houston augured well for the period ahead.

“These airline announcements take our net seat capacity additions to well over 1.5 million year to date, commencing progressively over the coming months,” Mather said.