The number of people flying through Sydney Airport more than doubled in December compared with a month earlier, as borders reopened and international quarantine restrictions eased.
Some 1.2 million passengers passed through the airport in December, up from 498,000 in November and the highest number since May 2021, before the COVID-19 lockdowns.
This included 949,000 domestic passengers, more than double the 407,000 in November and up 44 per cent on the same month a year earlier.
There were 248,000 international passengers in December, almost treble a month earlier and up 70 per cent on December 2020.
However, the numbers remain well below passenger traffic before the pandemic, with total passengers for the year to December down 82 per cent compared with 2019.
Sydney Airport reiterated that its outlook remained “subdued” due to the ongoing restrictions on international travel and airlines scrapping flights over the next few months amid the Omicron outbreak, which made aircrew ill and forced Qantas and Virgin Australia to cancel flights.
The December figures are the last monthly update airport investors will receive before they vote on a $23.6 billion takeover proposal, which has been recommended by Sydney Airport’s board.
Investors are weighing up whether to take $8.75 per share in cash offered by a consortium led by IFM Investors and New York-headquartered Global Infrastructure Partners, or hang on to their shares through the turbulence of the aviation recovery in the expectation that flights will rebound over the long term.
Australia’s aviation industry is taking longer than other countries to recover from the pandemic due to its lengthy state and international border closures, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Total global demand for air travel in November 2021 (measured in revenue passenger-kilometres) was down 47 per cent with November 2019, IATA said.
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