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Melbourne Airport passenger performance August 2017

Direct News Source

20-Sep-2017 Key points

  • 10 million annual international passenger milestone reached
  • Xiamen Airlines announces non-stop service to Hangzhou
  • Jetstar announces non-stop service to Zhengzhou
  • UberX enjoys 1,000 App bookings a day in its first operating month

August 2017 has delivered a number of significant milestones for Melbourne Airport, fueled by the introduction of new routes and transport options.

For the first time in the airport's 47-year history, 10 million international passengers passed through the doors in a rolling 12-month period. That's a five-fold increase since privatisation in 1997.

The airport's latest passenger data revealed more than 850,000 international travellers took international trips in August 2017, a 9.7 per cent increase compared to the same time last year.

Domestic travel was also up by 3.6 per cent on August 2016, approximately 73,000 more travellers than the previous year.

Melbourne Airport boosted its services to China when Jetstar and Xiamen Airlines both added new non-stop routes from Melbourne to Zhengzhou and Hangzhou, respectively.

Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said the introduction of two new Chinese destinations reinforced the high demand for direct services between Melbourne and China.

"Each month we are seeing our international passenger traffic soar and that demand is being met with airlines adding new international destinations and more services out of Melbourne," said Mr Strambi.

"These announcements give Victorians more choice and flexibility to travel where they want, when they want.

"Jetstar's service to Zhengzhou, and Xiamen Airlines' service to Hangzhou add a combined 117,312 new seats flying both-ways annually, an incredible boost to tourism.

"The reality is that Melbourne and Victoria are such attractive destinations for international travellers, and so strategically important within the Australian economy, that our passenger volumes are only going to continue to grow - and they will do so strongly.

"We're confident the airport is on track to welcome 60 million passengers annually, as soon as 2033.

"It's essential that Melbourne Airport, a vitally important piece of Victorian infrastructure, continues to grow to meet this forecast demand.

"This is why we are continuing to invest heavily in capacity-building infrastructure and technology such as a new runway, along with improvements to the capabilities of existing runways and taxiways.

Mr Strambi said the airport's ground access transport mix was also bolstered last month with the introduction of UberX.

"We are committed to improving the traveller experience and in August we were thrilled to introduce UberX, giving travellers more options to get to and from the airport. Launching UberX has proven to be popular with more than 1,000 rides booked through the app each day," said Mr Strambi.

Passenger figures for August 2017:

Passengers August 2017 August 2016 Growth (%)*
International 853,253 777,690 9.7%
Domestic 2,097,857 2,024,166 3.6%
Total (ex transits) 2,951,110 2,801,856 5.3%




*monthly percentage growth compared to August 2016

Passenger figures for FY to August 2017:

Passengers July-August 2017 July-August 2016 Growth (%)†
International 1,784,342 1,648,405 8.3%
Domestic 4,347,112 4,208,496 3.3%
Total (ex transits) 6,131,454 5,856,901 4.7%

†financial year-to-date percentage growth