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Adelaide Airport has seen modest growth for the September quarter, including in domestic travel, despite the collapse of Rex.
Airport passenger numbers grew by a total of 1.5 per cent over the same quarter last year to more than 2.1 million, with 1.6 per cent growth in domestic and 1 per cent in international traffic. The airport has attributed the trend to “capacity growth and new route offerings”.
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“International passenger volumes continued their positive trend, exceeding those of Q1 FY24 by 1.0 per cent despite some reduced competition on the Bali market,” the airport said in a press release.
“Increased travel during the July school holidays contributed to the growth and overall capacity was also ahead of the previous corresponding period.”
This was Adelaide’s first quarter since Rex went into administration at the end of July, nixing a number of domestic services including to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, though its existing regional network has so far been retained.
“Rex’s entrance into administration on 30 July 2024 has posed some challenges to the industry – however, domestic traffic still grew 1.6 per cent compared with the same quarter last year,” the airport said.
“The exciting introduction of Jetstar’s new domestic route to the Whitsunday Coast on 1 September 2024 expanded connectivity and travel options for passengers.”
Adelaide has been bolstered by the return of Emirates flights to Dubai in October for the first time since the pandemic, with China Southern also set to bring back flights to Guangzhou next month.
“Looking ahead to Q2 FY25, Adelaide Airport is excited about the return of both Emirates and China Southern to South Australian skies,” the airport said.
Adelaide Airport exceeded pre-COVID-19 passenger capacities in the 2023–24 financial year, with 7.6 million domestic and around 960,000 international passengers over the 12 months to the end of June.
“Adelaide Airport celebrated more than 8.5 million passengers travelling through the terminal, 10 per cent above the prior 2023 financial year and more than ten thousand passengers higher than FY19 pre-COVID,” it said at the time.
“Traffic growth over the year was underpinned by both ongoing strong demand for travel and nearly nine per cent increases in airline capacity.”
