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Late Easter boosts Melbourne Airport’s international passengers

Late Easter boosts Melbourne Airport’s international passengers

Easter has boosted Melbourne Airport’s international passenger numbers for April resulting in a 20.4 per cent increase compared to April last year, taking total international passengers to 535,143 for the month.

Melbourne Airport CEO, Chris Woodruff said, “The Easter period is traditionally one of our peak periods and this year was no different.”

“Our key Asian markets were again strong performers however the most significant growth was by Australian passport holders who increased by an impressive 28.4 per cent.”

“The strong Australian dollar was undoubtedly a key factor in the increased number of Australian passport holders travelling in April.  Combined with the strength of the Victorian economy and the extended Easter and Anzac Day holiday period, it was a great opportunity for Australians to travel, and many people took advantage of that opportunity,” said Mr Woodruff.  “In terms of destinations, Australian passport holders continued to travel to popular international holiday destinations such as Bali, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.”

Strong inbound growth in April included Chinese passport holders, increasing by 26.5 per cent, Indonesia passport holders by 22.3 per cent and both Hong Kong and Singapore passport holders by 20.6 per cent.  Traditional markets, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (USA) and New Zealand grew by 15.2 per cent, 12.4 and 15.9 per cent respectively.

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Domestic passengers increased by 63,165 or 3.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, growing total passengers by seven per cent and taking total passengers to 2,381,111 for April.

“We are also working hard to support the growing number of passengers at Melbourne Airport,” said Mr Woodruff.

“We’ve had great feedback on our redeveloped international departures area, and there is still more of this fantastic redevelopment to open later this year.  We also have a number of other projects underway to improve the overall passenger experience at Melbourne Airport. I am really excited about what the future holds for us, and for our passengers.”

Combined March and April figures saw a 4.3 per cent overall passenger growth compared to last year, taking total passengers for March and April to 4,734,592.  International passenger growth was particularly strong in March and April, increasing by 11.3 per cent or an additional 103,737 passengers compared to the same period last year.  Domestic passengers increased by 89,289 or 2.5 per cent.