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Melbourne Airport passenger performance July 2017

Direct News Source

21-Aug-2017 Melbourne Airport passenger performance July 2017

Key points

  • 100 months of consecutive international passenger growth.
  • More than 2.2 million domestic travellers in July.

Melbourne Airport has experienced a record-breaking 100 consecutive months of growth in international passenger traffic. The unbeaten run of growth dates back to April 2009.

Another record was also smashed in July, with domestic passengers numbering more than 2.24 million for the month, beating the previous record by more than thirty thousand travellers.

Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said the long term trend of consistently strong growth in passenger volumes was only going to continue, creating demand for more capacity during the airport's morning and afternoon peaks.

"Melbourne's rapidly-growing population, and its attractiveness to international visitors, is combining to drive passenger volumes higher month after month," Mr Strambi said.

"This is fantastic news for travellers because the addition of more airlines and extra services increases competition, ultimately driving down airfares."

The airport plays a major role in the Victorian economy, as each daily international service injects between $100 million and $150 million into Victoria per year.

"It is crucial to ensure that the airport is never a constraint on Melbourne's, or Victoria's, prosperity," said Mr Strambi.

"Over the next decade we will invest, on average, more than half a billion dollars per year, every year, to improve, maintain and grow this essential piece of Victorian infrastructure.

"The most important part of that investment will be building our third runway, which will increase capacity from our current limit of around 55 movements per hour, to more than 90 movements per hour.

"That capacity growth will be essential for us to welcome new carriers into the Melbourne market, as more international airlines fly direct to Melbourne, or increase the frequency of existing services.

"In addition to runway capacity, our growth is going to demand ongoing investment in airport ground access, and we are passionate advocates for the need to invest in a rail connection to the airport," said Mr Strambi.