Sydney Airport - Traffic Performance December 2014

20-Jan-2015

Pax Monthly performance Year to date performance
('000s)1 Dec-14 Dec-13 Growth (%) YTD-14 YTD-13 Growth (%)
Domestic 2,185 2,183 +0.1% 25,351 25,040 +1.2%
International2 1,261 1,233 +2.3% 13,103 12,753 +2.8%
DOC3 3 5 -42.0% 42 71 -40.5%
Total 3,449 3,421 +0.8% 38,496 37,863 +1.7%
1 Contains estimates with any adjustments to preliminary statistics to be included in the year to date results in future months.
2 International excludes Domestic-On-Carriage.
3 Domestic-On-Carriage.

CEO Kerrie Mather said, "International traffic growth of 2.3% in December reflected continued strong growth in load factors, which improved 1.5 percentage points against the prior corresponding period (pcp). Over 2014, international passengers grew 2.8% and load factors improved by 1.6 percentage points.

"Sydney Airport welcomed Cebu Pacific Air for the first time in 2014 as well as a new route from Fiji Airways. In addition, Qantas, Virgin Australia, China Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, LAN and Singapore Airlines delivered frequency increases and Qantas, Air Canada and Cathay Pacific upguaged aircraft. We were also delighted with the announcement that Etihad will deploy its second flagship A380 aircraft on the Sydney route in 2015, adding 38% more capacity between Sydney and Abu Dhabi.

"Australian nationality travellers, our largest market at approximately half of all international travellers, grew 1.9% in December during the busy holiday period. Over 2014, Australian nationality passengers increased by a robust 1.5%.

"The strongest foreign nationality passenger growth during December came from the nationalities of China (+18.1%), Malaysia (+13.0%), USA (+3.9%), Philippines (+27.1%), India (+8.0%) and Canada (+6.6%).

"Chinese nationality travellers were again Sydney's fastest and most consistently growing market, up 16.4% in 2014. Growth in Chinese travellers through Sydney Airport accounted for 50% of foreign nationality growth.

"The domestic market saw growth in passengers of 1.2% in 2014 which demonstrates robust underlying demand for air travel domestically and bodes well for airline and airport performance in 2015."

Key Points
Average load factors improved in both domestic and international markets with 1.5 and 0.8 percentage point increases respectively in December.
Sydney Airport welcomed a new route from Fiji Airways and frequency increases from Qantas, China Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, LAN and Singapore Airlines in 2014.
Qantas, Air Canada and Cathay Pacific upgauged aircraft servicing Sydney routes in 2014.
Chinese nationality travellers were the largest contributor to international passenger growth in 2014 increasing by 16.4%.
Cathay Pacific upgauged its A330-300 to a 777-300ER between Hong Kong and Sydney in December providing an extra 71,500 seats annually.
Cebu Pacific Air increased its service to Manila from four-weekly to five-weekly in December.
Total passenger traffic for December is estimated to have increased 0.8% on the pcp, with domestic traffic estimated to be up 0.1% on the pcp and international traffic (excluding domestic on-carriage) up 2.3% on the pcp.
Top 10 Nationalities Travelling Through Sydney Airport

Pax Monthly performance Year to date performance
('000s)1 Dec-14 Dec-13 Growth (%) YTD-14 YTD-13 Growth (%)
Domestic 2,185 2,183 +0.1% 25,351 25,040 +1.2%
International2 1,261 1,233 +2.3% 13,103 12,753 +2.8%
DOC3 3 5 -42.0% 42 71 -40.5%
Total 3,449 3,421 +0.8% 38,496 37,863 +1.7%