A total of 3.48 million passengers passed through Sydney Airport in October 2023, representing an 87.6% recovery compared to pre-pandemic October 2019.
Sydney Airport’s T1 international terminal saw 1.30 million passengers pass through in October, a 90.3% recovery compared to October 2019.
Domestic passenger traffic was 86.0% recovered, with 2.19 million passengers coming through the T2 and T3 domestic terminals.
| Monthly Performance | Year-to-date performance | |||||
| Passengers’ | Oct-23 | Growth vs 2022 | Growth vs 2019 | YTD 2023 | YTD v 2022 | YTD v 2019 |
| Domestic | 2.19m | 7.0% | -14.0% | 19.87m | 22.7% | -12.9% |
| International2 | 1.30m | 41.2% | -9.7% | 11.79m | 100.1% | -15.4% |
| Total | 3.48m | 17.6% | -12.4% | 31.66m | 43.3% | -13.9% |
Note: 2019 NSW school spring holidays fell predominately in October (29 Sep – 13 Oct), while the 2023 holidays were split across September and October (25 Sep – 6 Oct), impacting recovery rates.
Overseas visitor recovery
The number of Australians heading overseas through Sydney Airport was 95% recovered in October, compared to pre-pandemic October 2019.
New Zealand passport holders were the most popular overseas visitors at the airport, but the recovery rate was down slightly in October, to 90%, compared to 99% in September, which included the school holiday period.
Strong seat capacity between Sydney and Seoul continues to bring in visitors, with the number of South Korean passport holders increasing 45% compared to October 2019. The number of South Korean visitors to Sydney Airport has been consistently higher than pre-pandemic levels since April this year.
| Top 10 Nationalities travelling through Sydney Airport in October 20233 | |||||
| Rank | Nationality | Growth vs 2019 | Rank | Nationality | Growth vs 2019 |
| 1 | Australia | -5% | 6 | United Kingdom | -23% |
| 2 | New Zealand | -10% | 7 | India | -3% |
| 3 | China | -31% | 8 | Japan | -25% |
| 4 | United States of America | -16% | 9 | Philippines | -15% |
| 5 | South Korea | 45% | 10 | Indonesia | -14% |
Sydney Airport CEO, Geoff Culbert, said: “In the 12-months to October, almost 14 million passengers have passed through our international terminal, more than double the number we saw in the previous 12 months.”
“We continue to see markets roaring back to life. In the run up to Christmas there is extra capacity coming on across several key overseas destinations including China, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam. This is great for passengers who will have more choice this Christmas than any holiday period since 2019.”
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