Adelaide Airport serviced 9.15 million passengers over the last financial year, representing its highest patronage to date.
The overall volume of passengers was up by 4.8 per cent compared to the 2024-2025 financial year, with international passengers surging significantly more, up 20 per cent on the year before. In all 1.24 million international travellers passed through the airport.
Several international airlines started or resumed services between Adelaide and the world over the past year, although some of them are seasonal services. However China Southern’s conversion of a seasonal service into a year-round route, demonstrates the potential future for seasonal services.
“Last year we saw 13 global carriers flying to 12 international destinations, which in turn created one-stop links to around 440 cities worldwide,” said Adelaide Airport’s managing director, Brenton Cox.
“We anticipate this growth will continue into 2027 and beyond.”
Meanwhile, Sydney Airport reported a slight decrease in passenger numbers for the April to June period, with 9.98 million passengers passing through the airport, a contraction of 0.7 per cent compared to Q2 in 2025.
“While conflict in the Middle East affected travel patterns during the quarter, demand for travel to and from Sydney remained resilient,” said Sydney Airport’s CEO, Scott Charlton.
“Growth across Asia helped offset the impact of Middle East disruption, with strong performance across destinations including Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo.
“The diversity of destinations served from Sydney Airport is one of our greatest strengths.
“When conditions change in one part of the world, passengers and airlines have options across a broad range of markets and connections.”
Across the first half of the calendar year, total passengers service by Sydney Airport numbered 20.7 million, up 1.5 per cent compared to the first half of 2025.
Alongside these Australian figures, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released global passenger statistics for June, showing a 1.7 per cent drop in demand compared to June 2025.
“This is largely due to domestic market declines in China, the US and Japan, and weak but improving international demand for Middle East carriers,” said IATA’s director general, Willie Walsh.
“While Middle East performance improved, renewed tensions will not help the region’s recovery and the knock-on impact of rising fuel prices will continue to burden travellers with higher airfares.
“People continue to travel, which is an important contributor to global economic growth. There is no doubt, however, that stabilising the situation in the Middle East and normalising oil supplies would improve prospects for airlines, economies and societies the world over,” said Walsh.
