Sydney Airport’s big lift in US, Japanese arrivals

An increase in capacity and a free-trade deal led to a huge rise in Japanese and American arrivals at Sydney Airport.

Sydney Airport has welcomed a big increase in passengers. Picture: Chris Pavlich

An increase in airline seats ­coupled with the signing of a free-trade agreement with Tokyo last year have contributed to a huge rise in Japanese and American arrivals into Sydney Airport.

Sydney reported a 7.6 per cent increase in total international passenger growth last month compared with the previous corresponding period, with arrivals from Japan up 42 per cent, US numbers rising nearly 30 per cent and Chinese holidaymakers growing more than 11 per cent.

Sydney Airport managing ­director Kerrie Mather said international arrivals had grown 9.5 per cent for the year to date, benefiting from a 13 per cent increase in seat capacity and a 10.3 per cent jump in demand.

She said the increase in American arrivals was due to growth in seat capacity on the US routes.

John O’Sullivan, managing director of Tourism Australia, said Japanese arrivals had shot up because of additional capacity on Qantas and ANA. “It’s a combination of additional capacity from Qantas and ANA, and the Qantas Sydney to Tokyo ser­vices out of Haneda, which is much more convenient for travellers to access,” he said.

Business traffic between Australia and Japan had increased as a result of the FTA, which came into effect in January last year.

“That is a real, tangible benefit of the FTA, and the Japanese consumer is starting to see Australia as a more viable destination. There’s (also) been a currency improvement for the Japanese yen.”

The Japan Association of Travel Agents said more people were travelling overseas, with nearly a 9 per cent increase in July over the previous year.

Ms Mather, meanwhile, said there had been 3 per cent domestic growth in August, driven by seat numbers and load factor improvements. The top nationalities travelling through Sydney Airport are Australians, Chinese, New Zealanders, Americans and British travellers.

Outbound growth also improved, with the number of Australians travelling up 4.6 per cent in the year to August. Australian travel to Indonesia was up 40 per cent, followed by Canada up 24 per cent and Chile up 21 per cent. Thailand was also a top performer, exhibiting growth of nearly 9 per cent. Melbourne was also healthy, with foreign arrivals growing 6.6 per cent for the year to August.