Sydney International Airport is edging closer to full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, buoyed by the return of Chinese tourists.
The airport revealed Monday that total passenger numbers in the month of July had reached 3.38 million, representing 87.8% of the July 2019 tally. Of those, 1.30 million passengers passed through the T1 international terminal at 89.1%, making July the first month since COVID that the recovery rate for international travel has surpassed that of Australian domestic travel at Sydney Airport.
The impressive growth in international passenger movements was attributed to a surge in passengers from China, with July also the first month since 2019 that Chinese passengers have ranked as the number one source of foreign visitors. While Sydney Airport didn’t reveal exact passenger numbers by country, it said arrivals from China had now recovered to 76% of 2019 levels, up from 69% in July.
South Korea has also seen strong recovery to reach 120% of 2019 levels in July, sitting behind only China, New Zealand and the USA as Sydney’s main source markets. Sydney Airport said there are now five airlines flying between Sydney and Seoul – Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, T’way Air, Jetstar and Qantas – compared with only two airlines pre-COVID.
“The underlying result on passenger traffic for July is mixed.,” said Sydney Airport CEO, Geoff Culbert.
“The headline result for international passengers is encouraging but it’s a two-speed recovery, with strong growth from China, Korea and India offset by lagging markets like the USA and New Zealand. 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% on July 2019.”
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