April Passenger numbers soar at BNE
April passenger numbers at Brisbane Airport (BNE) have taken off with more than 1.8 million international and domestic passengers travelling through BNE in April, a growth of nearly 6 per cent or over 100,000 additional passengers compared with April 2013.
Most of the growth was experienced in international departures and arrivals with nearly 50,000 extra passengers coming through BNE in April 2014 compared to 2013, an increase of nearly 14 per cent.
Domestic figures also received a boost with an additional 52,000 travellers this April, equating to a year on year increase of 3.9 per cent.
Julieanne Alroe, Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) CEO and Managing Director said the result was exceptional but not unexpected for such a busy time of year.
“There was a combination of factors contributing to the high passenger numbers recorded in April including the timing of holidays this year, but notably a number of international airlines have boosted capacity into Brisbane, in-conjunction with offering incredible fares which stimulate tourism to our great city and state.
“If this trend continues, and we have no reason to believe it won’t, we look forward to finishing the financial year with another passenger number record breaking year at BNE,” Ms Alroe said.
The growth in visitors for April was three times the year-to-date rate at 11 per cent. As the fastest growing markets of New Zealand, China, the UK and the USA were also the largest markets, strong overall growth at BNE resulted.
The rare occurrence of double digit international passenger growth was influenced by low growth last year, later school holidays in 2014, Anzac Day closely following Easter - which tempted many workers to take a 10-day break - and several capacity changes including: the launch of new Jetstar B787 services to Bali, Hawaiian Airlines growing to four times weekly, and Cathay Pacific operating more flights direct to BNE.
April 2014 domestic performance was the best of the year-to-date even when taking into account Cyclone Ita which caused disruptions to services to/from Cairns and Townsville airports in early April. School holidays and the Anzac Day ‘long weekend’ were also drivers of strong demand with passenger numbers up over 4 per cent and nearly 6 per cent in these periods respectively. Supply was well matched to demand during April, with load factors remaining unchanged from the prior year. The major domestic capacity change in April 2014 was Tigerair introducing a second BNE-based aircraft to launch two new routes between BNE and Cairns and Darwin.
The information contained in this document is for information purposes only. Brisbane Airport Corporation Pty Ltd (BAC) provides no warranty as to the content or accuracy of the information provided or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. BAC does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this document or for any loss of profit or other damages resulting from the use of this information.
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