Melbourne Airport facilitated a solid month of travel despite an early start to Easter as international passenger volumes peaked at almost 900,000 people, nearly six per cent higher than travel rates in April 2017.
A significant milestone was reached when overall passenger numbers surpassed 30 million people for the financial year to date, translating to a 4.6 per cent increase on the same period last year. Domestic passenger volumes also exceeded figures from April 2017 with 2.1 million passengers flying through Melbourne.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi said the airport’s latest figures support the need for a third runway.
“Our latest traveller data shows passenger volumes are up by 3.3 per cent compared to the same time last year, which is really positive especially since Easter fell in March, however, the continued growth puts pressure on our current two-runway system, which is why we are taking steps to add a third runway,” said Strambi.
“Melbourne Airport is really coming into its own as more airlines join the network and connect Melbourne to destinations that were never before available such as Santiago, Vancouver and Colombo.
“Just last month we enhanced our international offering by welcoming Malindo Air to Melbourne’s network, set to commence services to Bali in June. More competition means additional choice and lower fares and we are seeing more travellers than ever taking advantage of convenient direct services to and from Melbourne.”
Strambi said Victoria’s tourism industry is set to continue thanks to recent state government funding.
“Earlier this month the state government allocated $51.1 million in the Victorian Budget 2018/19 to attract more tourists as part of Visit Victoria’s work to increase visitor spending, and we anticipate that this will encourage further inbound tourism through air travel.”
Visit Victoria CEO Peter Bingemen congratulated Melbourne Airport on its role in facilitating travel to the state.
“I congratulate Melbourne Airport for its ongoing efforts to attract new airlines to the state and provide a premium gateway to Victoria for the 30 million passengers who arrive here each year,” said Mr Bingeman. “The continued rise in passenger numbers is truly fantastic and can be attributed to the great work of industry and government working together to attract more visitors than ever before.”
