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Sydney Airport has marked its strongest quarter for passenger traffic since 2019, with an almost total international recovery, but still lags pre-COVID levels.
Australia’s largest international gateway saw 11 million passengers in total across the three months to December 2024, up five per cent on the same period in 2023 but only 94.4 per cent of the fourth quarter of 2019.
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International travel was 99.1 per cent recovered with 4.35 million passengers for the quarter, up 7.4 percent of Q4 2023, while domestic and regional passenger traffic climbed 3.5 per cent year-on-year to 6.65 million passengers, down 8.5 per cent on Q4 2019.
In total, the airport saw more than 41 million passengers over the full 2024 calendar year, 6.8 per cent shy of 2019.
“41 million passengers is a strong result that reflects the ongoing demand for travel, boosting the almost $40 billion contribution we make to the national economy on a yearly basis,” said airport CEO Scott Charlton.
“The momentum for international travel was especially strong in the last few months of the year and the addition of new partners like Turkish Airlines and Juneyao Air, and positive discussions we’ve been having with prospective partners, sets us up well for 2025.
“What is really pleasing is our operations in the context of the demand we are seeing. Every quarter we’re directing our resources to the areas that will improve the metrics that matter to passengers.”
The airport says it also posted its best-ever operational performance for the quarter, with 100 per cent of international and 99.9 per cent of domestic passengers passing through security in 10 minutes or less. It comes as Sydney prepares for a $200 million upgrade to its T2 domestic terminal.
According to Charlton, the airport is “focused on maximising the performance of existing facilities, before building expensive infrastructure”.
“Our goal is to ensure that the infrastructure we have operates at its best, delivering maximum benefit to both our airline partners and passengers,” he said.
“When we do invest, we’ll do so with a clear focus on enhancing the passenger experience and improving on-time performance. Our strong pipeline of projects is designed to support our growth ambitions, as we build in line with demand.
“We firmly believe this approach is in the best interest of both our airline partners and the more than 40 million passengers who travel through Sydney Airport each year.”
Western rival Perth was the best-performing post-COVID major airport in the country last year, recording an all-time passenger traffic record.
