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AUSTRALIAN airports are demonstrating the strength of tourism in the country by posting even more broken records.
Sydney Airport posted another record year in 2017, facilitating a steady increase of passengers in the calendar year.
In Sydney, 43.3 million passengers were facilitated through our three terminals, an increase of 3.6 per cent compared to 2016.
International passenger numbers were up by more than one million in 2017, or 7.2 per cent on 2016, to 16 million international passengers in total.
Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert says the strong growth was underpinned by capacity development on the Middle East, Asian, and US routes.
"The capacity additions have totalled well over one million new international seats for the second consecutive year and the pipeline of capacity announcements continues to be strong for the coming season."
Asia continues to deliver a massive influx of tourists, with Sydney's fastest growing nationalities including China, India, and South Korea.
Australian outbound international passenger growth also performed well, increasing 5.3 per cent for December 2017, with many Australians choosing to travel overseas during the Christmas holiday period.
Tianjin Airlines and Hainan Airlines both announced their services would commence year-round. Sydney Airport now serves 17 mainland Chinese cities which represent almost 90 per cent of all travel on the China-Sydney route.
Yet again, the Gold Coast airport has reported a record breaking day.
On 23 December, the Gold Coast Airport recorded its busiest day in history, welcoming 24,076 passengers.
The previous busiest day was Sunday 3 January 2016, when 23,856 passengers passed through Coolangatta.
Chris Mills, the CEO of Gold Coast Airport, says it was great to end the year with a bang.
"With the Commonwealth Games just around the corner, December was a great month to show that we are ready," says Mills.
"We look forward to continuing this upward trend and key to this is increasing the airport's capability to facilitate long-term passenger growth."
Over December 2017 the GC Airport saw strong domestic passenger movements, particularly from Sydney.
The airport also saw its first month of direct Hobart services with Tigerair.
With just a few months until the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games the Airport is finalising preparations to provide everyone making their way to the Gold Coast a warm welcome.
"We expect passenger movements over the Games period to be comparable to our usual summer peaks over Christmas and New Year," says Mills.
"The Games Family will also have a dedicated lounge space which will allow them to relax in a private area, away from the usual activity in the terminal."
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Business News Australia
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