William Scott
Sydney Airport has released its Annual Traffic Performance Report Q4 2024, finishing off the year with the strongest quarterly passenger traffic since 2019.
More than 11 million passengers passed through the terminals in Q4 2024, a five per cent increase on Q4 2023 and 94.4 per cent of the same period in 2019.
International passenger volumes in Q4 were especially strong, increasing by 7.4 per cent on Q4 2023, with the 4.35 million passengers representing a 99.1 per cent recovery rate on the previous record quarter in Q4 2019.
International travel by Australians rose in the quarter, with 8.4 per cent more travelling than in the same quarter in 2019. Travel by South Korean, Indian and Philippine passport holders was also well above 2019 levels.
Domestic and regional passenger traffic was up 3.5 per cent compared to Q4 2023, with 6.65 million passengers coming through the T2 and T3 terminals.
The passenger volumes for Q4 capped off a year where more than 41 million passengers passed through the airport’s terminals, coming within 6.8 per cent of the all-time high in 2019 of 44.4 million passengers.
More than 16.3 million international passengers came through Sydney Airport in 2024, representing a 12.1 per cent increase on 2023, while more than 25 million domestic passengers also came through across the year, a 4.1 per cent increase.
Record quarter for operational performance
Sydney Airport posted its best operational performance on record, with 100 per cent of international passengers and 99.9 per cent of domestic passengers passing through security in less than ten minutes.
All kerbside drop-offs in the domestic terminals occurred within ten minutes of entering the precinct, an improvement on the seven instances in Q3 when traffic wait times exceeded the ten-minute target. The international precinct saw a decrease in the number of instances where kerbside drop-off wait times peaked above ten minutes, from seven in Q3 2024 to four in Q4.
Wait times for inbound immigration processing also showed improvements, with 90 per cent of passengers clearing immigration within 37 minutes, a near 12 per cent improvement on the previous quarter at the busiest time for international travel for the entire year.
Syndey Airport said the improvements in inbound processing reflect its ongoing collaboration with the Australian Border Force (ABF). A project to consolidate ticket kiosks and e-gates is 50 per cent complete, and the installation of 40 new kiosks – purchased by Sydney Airport and to be owned and operated by ABF – is expected to be finished in 2025.
Sydney Airport CEO, Scott Charlton, said 41 million passengers is a strong result that reflects the ongoing demand for travel, boosting the almost $40 billion contribution the airport makes to the national economy on a yearly basis.
“The momentum for international travel was especially strong in the last few months of the year and the addition of new partners like Turkish Airlines and Juneyao Air, and positive discussions we’ve been having with prospective partners, sets us up well for 2025.
“What is really pleasing is our operations in the context of the demand we are seeing. Every quarter we’re directing our resources to the areas that will improve the metrics that matter to passengers.”
Mr Charlton said Sydney Airport is focused on maximising the performance of its existing facilities before building expensive infrastructure.
“Our goal is to ensure that the infrastructure we have operates at its best, delivering maximum benefit to both our airline partners and passengers.
“When we do invest, we’ll do so with a clear focus on enhancing the passenger experience and improving on-time performance. Our strong pipeline of projects is designed to support our growth ambitions, as we build in line with demand. We firmly believe this approach is in the best interest of both our airline partners and the more than 40 million passengers who travel through Sydney Airport each year.”
Access Sydney Airport’s Q4 passenger and performance data here.
