All up, 36,993,557 passengers moved through the airport between July 2025 and June 2026, up 2.3 per cent on the previous financial year.
It was also a record year for international passengers at Melbourne Airport, with 12,256,328 passengers travelling on 57,002 international flights, up 2.5 per cent on the year prior.
UK travellers rose by 9.4 per cent during last financial year, Chinese travellers were up eight per cent, travellers from the US were up 7.9 per cent and New Zealand passengers were up 1.3 per cent, while Indian passengers were down almost five per cent, although they were still the third largest international market for the airport. Chinese travellers were the largest cohort from a single international market, with more than 636,000 Chinese citizens passing through the airport.
With the announcement of the financial year passenger figures, Melbourne Airport CEO, Lorie Argus, flagged the changes ahead for the airport as its passenger numbers rise.
“We’ve committed to a $4.5 billion expansion of our international terminal, a new third runway and an enhanced road network to cater for Melbourne’s growth,” she said.
“Passengers will start to notice some of these changes in October, when we open our new and much larger free pick up and drop off zones for Qantas, international and Virgin Australia travellers in the T123 Transport Hub.”
She also expressed her approval of yesterday’s announcement that Australia will digitise its international passenger arrival card.
“Given the growing volume of travellers, the international arrivals process is currently one of our biggest passenger pain points, so we’re pleased the federal government has committed to fixing this.
“We’re excited to work with the federal government to ensure a seamless rollout of the new digital arrivals process in Melbourne.”
Despite the overall record, Melbourne Airport’s international arrivals were down 2.5 per cent in June, with the airport noting that flights from the Middle East had not yet returned to what they were before the regional conflict began at the end of February.
