A surge in international arrivals has helped boost Melbourne Airport’s monthly passenger figures to their highest level in three years.
The 2,706,962 travellers processed in January was more than double the same month in 2022, and the highest figure recorded since January 2020, the airport said.
A new post-pandemic high of 818,572 passengers passed through the international terminal, with 442,072 arrivals compared to just 376,500 departures – a difference of more than 65,000 people.
According to the airport, 1,888,390 passengers passed through the domestic terminal in January, up from 1,094,965 in January 2022 – an increase of 72 per cent.
Passenger numbers are also up for the financial year to January, with the airport recording 17,766,356 passengers, up 426 per cent from 3,374,881 passengers in the financial year to January 2022.
The latest passenger data comes as Melbourne Airport welcomed back Beijing Capital Airlines which became the sixth mainland Chinese carrier to resume service to Victoria since the country eased restrictions last month.
Flights from Qingdao will operate twice a week in February before increasing to three times a week from March.
Melbourne Airport chief executive Lorie Argus said the extra Chinese connections would help support Victoria’s valuable education and agricultural export industries.
“These flights are incredibly important, not just because of the link they provide for Victorians with family in China, but for the direct market access they provide to our cargo exporters,” she said.
“To have six mainland Chinese carriers resume flights to Melbourne in just a few weeks is a huge testament to the importance they place on our city and the confidence they have in our market.
“Most international flights into Melbourne have been arriving close to full, which suggests international students are returning alongside tourists and family visitors.
“We’ve worked hard with the Victorian government to return this capacity to Melbourne and by the end of March we expect to be back to around 80% of our pre-pandemic seat numbers.”
