Passenger Numbers Increase at Perth Airport in January 2009

January passenger figures for Perth Airport in Australia show continued growth in both the domestic and international sectors.

For the month of January 2009, the number of international passengers travelling through Perth Airport increased by 7.9% over the same month last year . Financial year to date passenger figures for international travellers is up by 4.5% overall to 1.5 million passengers.

Perth Airport Chief Executive Officer, Mr Brad Geatches said Perth has benefited from a range of new services operating to and from the airport in the last few months which was being reflected in the solid passenger numbers.

“AirAsia X, the newest low-cost carrier to commence services to Perth has six daily services to Kuala Lumpur connecting to a wide range of destinations in Asia (and to London in March). Both Jetstar and Virgin Blue now fly direct to Bali, complementing the long standing Garuda services. These South East Asian destinations are very popular with the Western Australian market.

“We’ve also experienced strong growth in services operating to China as Cathay Pacific introduced daily services to Hong Kong as a result of increased passenger figures.

“The number of visitors to Perth from South Africa has also grown, resulting in South African Airways introducing new and larger aircraft with A340-200’s,” Mr Geatches added.

On the domestic and regional front, passenger numbers were up by 5.3% on January 2008 and up by 8.9% for the financial year to date to 4.2 million passengers.

Domestic passenger traffic has been assisted by intrastate services and by new services to Sydney and Brisbane with Virgin Blue.

Mr Geatches said Virgin Blue’s decision to launch services to Newman and Karratha last year as well as base their new Embraer aircraft in Perth, demonstrated confidence in the regional market.

“Jetstar, continuing to build its Perth presence, commenced additional domestic services this month and now flies to Adelaide and Cairns and Tiger Airways will soon commence flights to Adelaide, on top of their service to Melbourne.

“These extra domestic services provide more flexibility for travellers and with most airlines promoting great fares it represents a great time to fly,” Mr Geatches said.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Perth, Traffic, Airports, Visitor Arrivals, January 2009