Business Environment Profiles - Australia
Published: 26 February 2024
Air passenger movements through capital city airports
120 Million
-2.0 %
This report analyses the number of passenger movements across eight capital city airports in Australia: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin. The data for this report is sourced from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics and is measured in millions of passenger movements per financial year.
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IBISWorld forecasts the number of air passenger movements through capital city airports to increase by 8.3% during 2023-24, to 120.4 million passenger movements. This result represents strong growth from the year prior, as passenger numbers continue to recover from COVID-19 restrictions that severely limited air travel. Despite seeing significant increases in travel, growth rates have dropped substantially, owing to gradually waning levels of eagerness around travel. Rising domestic airfares have also encouraged many travellers to take car-based holidays over 2023-24.
Air passenger movements through capital city airports steeply declined over the two years through 2020-21. International air travel was essentially halted by the Federal Government in an attempt to limit COVID-19 case numbers. Domestic air travel volumes also sharply declined due to state border closures. Movement through capital city airports was particularly restricted as many domestic trips by essential workers go through regional airports. For example, many flights taken by mining sector employees feature a rural airport. However, rising domestic passenger volumes over the second half of 2020-21 limited the overall decline of air passenger movements through capital city airports during that year.
Due to the large size of Australia's capital cities relative to the national population, the eight capital city airports make up the vast majority of total air passenger movements in the country. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth constitute more than 85% of capital city air passenger movements. This weighting reflects the large populations of these four cities and their positions as leading business and tourism hubs.
Over the two years through 2022-23, the number of air passenger movements through capital city airports increased sharply to account for decreased numbers over the two years prior. A depreciated Australian dollar supported growth in international arrivals, as travel to Australia became relatively cheaper. In addition, the weak dollar encouraged Australians to travel domestically, which boosted the number of passenger movements through capital cities. IBISWorld forecasts the number of air passenger movements through capital city airports to fall at a compound annual rate of 2.1% over the five years through 2023-24.
IBISWorld forecasts the number of air passenger movements through capital city airports to total ...
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