A total of 582,481 passengers passed through the international terminal in September 2022 compared to just 10,356 during the height of Melbourne’s final lockdown twelve months earlier.
School holidays and the AFL Grand Final helped boost domestic traveller numbers, with 1,898,333 passengers processed through Melbourne Airport’s terminals, including the recently combined T3/T4.
Despite the growing demand for air travel the number of domestic passengers in September was down 13% on the corresponding month in 2019, while the international figure was down 38%.
This reflects the number of available seats, with domestic capacity at 84% of September 2019 levels and international capacity at 60%.
Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus said traveller numbers are expected to rebuild as more airlines return and others add new flights.
“We’ve been working hard alongside the Victorian state government to make sure the world’s airlines understand what an incredible place Melbourne is, and many carriers are listening,” she said.
“Today Thai Airways announced it will increase its Bangkok service to double daily from December, which is a welcome return to pre-Covid-19 levels of flying,” she said.
“Thai’s 14 flights per week will also provide important connectivity through to other south-east Asian, Indian and European destinations.
“United Airlines will soon be flying daily between Melbourne and both LA and San Francisco, which is more than what they flew pre-pandemic, and in the coming months we’re excited to welcome back Air Asia X and Garuda Indonesia as well as Qantas’ new service to Dallas.
“This is all great news for consumers because it means more choice for holidays, business trips or reconnecting with friends and family, as well as better export opportunities for Victorian primary producers,
“Pleasingly we are now also seeing the results of the work our domestic airlines have done to improve their operational reliability, which is being reflected in better on-time performance.”
Melbourne Airport is now gearing up to support interstate and international arrivals heading to Victoria for the Spring Racing Carnival and T20 Cricket World Cup.
Passenger figures for September 2022:
| Passengers | September 2022 | September 2021 | Growth (%)* |
| International | 582,481 | 10,356 | +5525% |
| Domestic | 1,898,333 | 31,758 | +5877% |
| Total (ex transits) | 2,480,814 | 42,114 | +5791% |
| Passengers | |
| International | 582,481 |
| Domestic | 1,898,333 |
| Total (ex transits) | 2,480,814 |
*Monthly percentage growth compared to September 2021
Passenger figures for Financial Year to September
| Passengers | Financial Year 2022/23 | Financial Year 2021/22 | Growth (%)* |
| International | 1,711,327 | 73,498 | +2228% |
| Domestic | 5,601,533 | 509,742 | +999% |
| Total (ex transits) | 7,312,860 | 583,240 | +1154% |
| Passengers | |
| International | 1,711,327 |
| Domestic | 5,601,533 |
| Total (ex transits) | 7,312,860 |
*percentage growth compared to FY 2021/22