International travel now outpacing the domestic recovery at Sydney Airport

The recovery in international travel has now overtaken domestic at Sydney Airport, aided by a huge surge in Chinese visitors.

The international travel recovery is now outpacing that of domestic travel at Sydney Airport, aided by a huge surge in Chinese visitors.

Data for July showed inter­national passenger numbers through Australia’s biggest gateway were at 89.1 per cent of 2019 levels, while domestic passengers continued to be about 87 per cent.

Airport chief executive Geoff Culbert used the figures to again call on Qantas and Virgin Australia to give up some of their valuable slots in Sydney, saying there “continued to be evidence of unused slots going to waste”.

Australian passport holders accounted for the bulk of international travellers, but for the first time since borders reopened, ­Chinese visitors were second and just 24 per cent behind where they were in 2019.

New Zealanders were third, Americans fourth and South ­Koreans fifth – reflecting the considerable capacity now available on Sydney to Seoul. Before the pandemic, just two airlines oper­ated the route – now five carriers are competing, including Qantas, Jetstar, Korean Air, Asiana and T’way Air.

As a result, the number of South Korean visitors through Sydney was up 20 per cent in July, compared with 2019. The Philippines was the only other country to show positive growth in passport-holders travelling through Australia’s biggest gateway.

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Mr Culbert said the headline result for international passengers was “encouraging but it was a two-speed recovery”. “The strong growth from China, Korea and India is offset by lagging markets like the US and New Zealand,” he said. “The lag is being driven by a lack of seat capacity, rather than a lack of demand. Additionally seats from the Middle East remain well below pre-Covid levels, down 27 per cent on July 2019.”

His remarks were seen as further criticism from the travel industry of the federal government’s decision to deny Qatar Airways more flights into Australia. The airline’s application was rejected after opposition from Qantas, and because it was not considered to be “in the national interest”.

Mr Culbert also took aim at Qantas and Virgin Australia over “slot hoarding”, which he said was contributing to stagnant domestic activity. In July, 2.08 million passengers used the T2 and T3 terminals, the same as in March. “We continue to see evidence of unused slots going to waste, with a persistent mismatch between slots held by domestic airlines and the schedule that is flown,” he said.

Slots are the time windows ­allocated to airlines for flying in and out of Sydney. Under current regulations, airlines must use their slots at least 80 per cent of the time to keep them.

He has previously called for Qantas and Virgin to relinquish some of their slots, to allow the entry of low-cost carrier Bonza to Sydney, and more international airlines. Qantas and Virgin Australia have denied slot hoarding, instead attributing high cancellation rates on busy routes, such as Sydney-Melbourne, to weather and air traffic control shortages.

A recent report by Airservices Australia showed staff shortages were directly responsible for 17 per cent of flight delays and 5 per cent of cancelled flights. Qantas said Mr Culbert was seeking to increase airport revenue by handing slots used by domestic airlines to international carriers, whose passengers typically spent more money in the terminal.

Mr Culbert announced his resignation as Sydney Airport chief executive in May and will leave by the end of the year.