Sydney Airport reports that its international, domestic and total passenger numbers grew by +7.9%, +4.4% and +5.6% respectively in March 2016 compared to March 2015.

At the same time, 12-month international passenger growth from March 2015 to March 2016 was +5.9%.

“This exceptional growth continues to be driven by seat capacity from new and existing airline customers,” said Sydney Airport Managing Director and CEO Kerrie Mather.

“Foreign inbound grew 10%, supported by demand from Taiwan (+62.7%), Japan (+37.9%), HK (+36.3%), South Korea (+26.6%), USA (+13.8%), Malaysia (+11.9%) and France (+9.6%).

“New or additional services from airlines, including Qatar, All Nippon Airways, Qantas, Korean Air, China Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airways led the capacity increase in March. Growth in Japanese nationals was the largest international inbound contributor to passenger growth.”

Mather added that Australian outbound passenger numbers also grew ‘strongly’, increasing +5.6% due to an earlier Easter holiday period and further seat capacity increases. The best performing outbound destinations were Qatar (no comparative period), Indonesia (+19.7%), China (+18.7%), New Zealand (+11.6%), Japan (+11.3%), Philippines (+7.4%) and Chile (+7.3%).

 

Qantas has also announced expanded frequencies on its Hong Kong-Sydney route, from 12 weekly to 14 weekly flights from 4 April to 17 July, adding an additional 62,000 seats on the route.

Meanwhile, domestic passengers were also said to have risen strongly in March, registering a 4.4% increase of 4.4% to just over 6.6m passengers in the year to date numbers.

Commenting on the latest major passenger draw, Mather said: “It’s fantastic to see The Easter Show continuing to draw such large crowds to Sydney. It is the largest annual event in Australia and an iconic showcase of Australian culture, heritage and agricultural excellence which consistently delivers more than $20m in visitor expenditure each year for NSW.

“International visitation for the event has grown by over 250% since 2009, the show attracts around 800,000 people every year and we typically welcome visitors from more than 60 international destinations.”