Sydney Airport strengthens China links as passenger numbers soar

The number of Chinese travellers passing through Sydney Airport soared 17 per cent last year, with 17 cities now connected.

A China Eastern Airbus A330 passenger aircraft sits on the tarmac at Sydney Airport.

A lift in the number of Chinese travellers passing through Sydney Airport last year has prompted two Chinese airlines to increase the frequency of their flights to Sydney.

The number of Chinese nationals travelling through Sydney Airport leapt 17.3 per cent in 2017, after jumping 17.6 per cent the prior year.

Tianjin Airlines, operating out of Tianjin near Beijing, will begin servicing its Tianjin-Zhengzhou-Sydney route all year round from January 30. Meanwhile, Hainan Airlines, which operates out of Hainan in China’s south, will run its Haikou-Sydney route twice weekly year round from the end of January.

“Sydney Airport now serves 17 mainland Chinese cities which represent almost 90 per cent of all travel on the China-Sydney route,” the airport’s chief executive Geoff Culbert said.

“We see the next wave of Chinese growth underpinned by increasing competition, frequency and up gauges.”

Across its three terminals, 43.3 million passengers passed through Sydney Airport (SYD) in 2017, up 3.6 per cent compared to the previous year. Traffic at the international airport grew 7.2 per cent, while domestic traffic rose 1.6 per cent, compared with the previous year.

“International passenger numbers were outstanding growing by more than one million” Mr Culbert said.

WEB Business Sydney airport visitors

“Our strong growth has been underpinned by capacity development predominantly on the Middle Eastern, 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.”

Malaysia Airlines also announced a capacity increase, while growth in the number of Malaysian nationals travelling through Sydney Airport slowed. The number of Malaysian travellers grew just 2.1 per cent compared to the 6.5 per cent increase the prior year, according to statistics collected in the year to December 22.

Mr Culbert said that Americans remain one of the fastest growing groups of foreign nationals to move through the airport, the number of the travellers increasing 6.2 per cent compared to last year. That said, growth in the number of Americans travellers passing through the airport has slowed from the rapid 16.8 per cent growth booked in 2016.

South Korean and Indian nationals were also among the fastest growing, with the number of South Koreans through the airport up 12.2 per cent on the prior year and Indian travellers up 16 per cent.