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Sydney Airport’s slot manager has pushed back against the idea that Kingsford Smith is “full”, saying there is ample capacity available outside morning and evening peaks.
Figures released by Airport Coordination Limited Asia Pacific, which took over Sydney slot management last year, showed that while slot utilisation averages over 95 per cent from 7am to 10am and 6pm to 7pm on weekdays, it drops to around 67 per cent on average outside those times.
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In particular, slot demand is lowest in the middle of the day and late in the evening, averaging just 45 per cent. According to ACL chief executive Neil Garwood, these numbers show that the narrative that Sydney has no more room for domestic or international airline expansion is a “fallacy”.
“We are already seeing increased demand from international carriers in particular and there is ample scope for further growth,” he said.
“At Sydney, about 70 per cent of the available slots have been taken for the Northern Summer season, so there is plenty of available capacity.”
ACL last month reported a surge in demand for slots over the Northern Summer (the six months from 29 March), up 8 per cent over historical demand. Approved international slot requests jumped by 10 per cent, with domestic up 7 per cent and freight up 17 per cent.
Qantas saw the largest increase in slots of any carrier, up 10 per cent or 6,480 slots, with Jetstar in second, adding 2,750 slots for a 10 per cent increase, and Virgin Australia increasing slots by 1,397, or 4 per cent; Rex, meanwhile, saw a 1 per cent growth in slot allocations.
“Of the overseas-based carriers, Air New Zealand, Asiana, AirAsia X, Malaysia Airlines, Etihad, China Southern, Scoot, SriLankan Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Qatar Airways had the biggest slot growth,” ACL said.
“Total seat numbers rose nine per cent to 33.8 million; 42 per cent will be flown by international carriers, which also had the most significant increase in seats at 11 per cent compared with eight per cent growth in domestic seat numbers.
“This is because of the larger aircraft used by carriers for medium and long-haul international flights.”
In Sydney Airport’s masterplan, released in September, the airport anticipated a rise in international passengers by 123 per cent to 36.4 million in the next 20 years, requiring growth in off-peak and shoulder movements, or “peak-spreading”.
“Larger, quieter and more fuel-efficient aircraft will mean that passenger numbers are forecast to grow at a faster rate than aircraft movements, delivering positive economic outcomes while reducing community and environmental impacts,” the masterplan read.
“The average number of passengers per flight is also expected to increase from 134 to 170 on domestic services and from 210 to 284 on international services.”
According to Garwood, ACL was able to allocate 91 per cent of slots at the time requested by the airlines for the Northern Summer, with the remainder allocated as close as possible. This was the first slot allocation since the new demand management framework came into effect in October.
