Sydney Airport traffic ‘resilient’ despite Iran conflict

“While conflict in the Middle East affected travel patterns during the quarter, demand for travel to and from Sydney remained resilient,” said Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton.

“Growth across Asia helped offset the impact of Middle East disruption, with strong performance across destinations including Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo.

“The diversity of destinations served from Sydney Airport is one of our greatest strengths. When conditions change in one part of the world, passengers and airlines have options across a broad range of markets and connections.”

Guangzhou was the top international destination for growth in the quarter, up 50.5 per cent on last year, with Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur both up by more than 14 per cent, and Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo all growing “strongly”.

“Domestic passenger traffic remained in line with last year, with 6.09 million passengers travelling through the T2 and T3 terminals. International passenger traffic reached 3.87 million passengers during the quarter,” the airport said in a press release.

“The results highlight the resilience of demand for travel to and from Sydney and the benefits of a diverse mix of destinations and airline services.

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“When disruption affects one region, passengers and airlines have access to a range of alternative destinations and connections, helping maintain Sydney’s position as Australia’s leading international gateway.”

On the operational side, with new screening points at Terminal 2 now up and running, all passengers cleared domestic security within 10 minutes, while 99.9 per cent of international passengers were through in under 10 minutes.

“Inbound immigration processing also improved, with 90 percent of arriving passengers clearing immigration within 32 minutes, compared with 34 minutes in Q2 2025,” the airport said.

“Departure on-time performance was broadly in line with the same period last year, with domestic performance increasing slightly to 81.6 percent, while international performance was 72.9 percent.”

According to Charlton, future connectivity has also grown, with Taiwanese carrier STARLUX signalling plans to fly to Sydney starting next year.

“With more than 20.7 million passengers travelling through the airport in the first half of the year, demand remains ahead of 2025 levels and reinforces Sydney Airport’s role as Australia’s busiest international gateway,” he said.

“We also continued to improve the passenger experience during the quarter, with further upgrades across Terminal 2, strong operational performance, and new airline and commercial partnerships helping improve choice and connectivity for travellers.”

The airport earlier this year saw record international traffic for the first quarter.