Melbourne Airport Passenger Performance July 2018

20 Aug 2018

Melbourne Airport has recorded its busiest month on record with close to 3.3 million people travelling in July, up 3.3 per cent compared to July 2017, smashing the previous record of 3.2 million in December 2017.

The airport also hit a new ‘busiest day’ in International Arrivals thanks to 20,193 people touching down in Melbourne on 15 July 2018. The airport also welcomed 131,294 international arrivals between 12 July and 18 July creating a new ‘busiest week’ for Terminal 2 Arrivals.

Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said July is consistently one of the airport’s peak travel periods reaching similar passenger numbers to those seen over Christmas and the New Year’s break.

“Victorian travellers have always loved to escape the winter chill by flying overseas or venturing to warmer destinations on the domestic network during July, however we have never experienced such a whirlwind four week period,” said Mr Strambi.

“Now more than ever there are more point to point options available, which is one of the reasons why passenger volumes are so high, especially in International Arrivals, which is most likely due to Victorians returning home from leave.

“Other factors contributing to such high passenger volumes include school holidays in Europe and the USA, Victoria’s snow season and significant international business events held in Victoria.

“As an airport we are firmly focused on the international market and working closely with our airline partners to increase services and open up new destinations.

“One way to achieve expansion is through the construction of a third runway, which will allow Melbourne Airport to go from handling around 55 aircraft movements per hour to around 100 per hour.
The possibilities to connect Melbourne to cities that were never before available is truly exciting, and one of the main motivations to build a third runway.

“Supporting the Victorian economy is also a key consideration and Melbourne Airport plays a major role in facilitating opportunities for international visitor spend. Our 2018 Master Plan Preliminary Draft states that during 2015-16 Melbourne Airport facilitated 71.9 million visitor nights and $8.9 billion in tourism spending in Victoria.”

Mr Strambi said Melbourne Airport’s recent record breaking passenger figures represent the popularity of air travel within the Victorian landscape and provide an insight into the need for further development.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren.

“This is a wonderful result that reflects Melbourne’s constantly growing international reputation and the private and public investments that are being made in our infrastructure.”

“The Victorian Government is working with Melbourne Airport to secure more new flights, attract more visitors and create more jobs and these record results show that our hard work is paying off.”