iscover
Melbourne Airport has marked its busiest ever month, with 3,421,195 passengers in December.
Both domestic and international travel were up on 2024, with domestic increasing by 4.9 per cent and international by 6.5 per cent, for a total increase of 5.4 per cent year-on-year. A record high of 5,596 international flights operated in or out of the airport, carrying 1,222,570 passengers.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
It comes after several new international carriers added services to Melbourne, while Qantas Group and Virgin both added more than 1,000 flights compared to 2024.
“December was a huge month for us, with Delta Air Lines, Hong Kong Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines all launching flights to Melbourne Airport for the first time, and Finnair, Air Asia Indonesia and Maldivian Airlines each confirming plans to launch flights to Melbourne in 2026,” said the airport’s chief of aviation, Jim Parashos.
“December traveller numbers were boosted by big events such as the Boxing Day Ashes test and Lady Gaga’s concert at Marvel Stadium.
“January is also shaping as a busy month as we prepare to welcome players and spectators from around the world for the Australian Open, and we know that when Melbourne Airport is busy, the city’s hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are busy too, which is great for local jobs and great for the Victorian economy.”
According to Parashos, while the increased capacity is good news, it “underscores the need for the investments we are making in our third runway, our terminals and our road network”.
“In a few months we will open our new $500 million international baggage system, which will more than double the capacity of our existing system and pave the way for some exciting enhancements for customers,” he said.
“Later in the year we will open new and expanded Pick Up and Drop Off zones for passengers using Terminals 1, 2 and 3, which will allow us to start upgrading the international terminal by expanding its footprint into the current arrivals forecourt.”
Melbourne’s 3,000-metre third runway, planned to open in 2031, will be built parallel to the existing north-south runway and 1.3 kilometres to the west. Its opening will allow for simultaneous take-offs and landings, which the airport said will increase capacity and reduce delays.
Want to see more stories from trusted news sources?
Make Australian Aviation a preferred news source on Google.
Click here to add Australian Aviation as a preferred news source.
