Adelaide Airport records double digit international growth for the third consecutive year

Adelaide Airport Limited (AAL) has reported strong total passenger growth of 5.0% and outstanding international passenger growth of 25.5% for the financial year ended 30 June 2014.

International passenger growth reflects both an improvement in load factors and a +17.0% increase in capacity, largely due to the commencement of Air Asia X and Jetstar’s international services in the second quarter which brought low cost international travel to the Adelaide market and the option of a second carrier on several popular routes.

The international growth continues the trend of outstanding international passenger growth seen at Adelaide Airport over the last few years, with growth of 13.0% and 14.8% reported for FY12 and FY13 respectively.

Managing Director Mark Young said “the 25.5% international passenger growth seen at Adelaide Airport is a remarkable result and crowns three consecutive years of double digit international passenger growth. Our consistent growth has caught the attention of international carriers and resulted in a substantial improvement in the availability of direct services out of Adelaide. We now have 53 international services operating directly from Adelaide per week, compared to 33 this time three years ago.”

Domestic performance was strong despite the tough operating environment with domestic passengers growing +3.5% to 6.2 million for the year. The domestic growth reflects both an improvement in average load factors and capacity increases across the network, with an additional 238,000 (+3.1%) seats in comparison to the previous corresponding period.

Regional passengers decreased by -4.7% on prior year primarily as a result of a reduction in resource industry related traffic, however, this somewhat stabilised in the second half.