Chinese visitors lift international travellers at Sydney and Melbourne Airports in October

Australia’s two busiest airports have posted healthy gains in international passengers led by a strong rise in the number of Chinese visitors.

Melbourne Airport said the number of overseas travellers through Tullamarine in October rose 10.2 per cent to 764,998, compared with the prior corresponding period.

Meanwhile, Sydney Airport said international passengers passing through its terminals was up 5.1 per cent at 1.176 million in October.

Chinese visitors to Melbourne were up 35.4 per cent in October, while the rose 23.6 per cent at Sydney Airport.

“Chinese growth was significantly higher than our four year average growth rate of 16.4% due to strong Golden Week demand which runs annually in the first week in October,” Sydney Airport chief executive Kerrie Mather said in a statement on Friday.

Load factors on international flights at Sydney Airport rose 2.6 percentage points in October, while capacity was up 1.5 per cent.

It was a more subdued picture in the domestic market, with Sydney Airport reporting an 0.1 per cent drop in local travellers in October, compared with the prior corresponding period, while Melbourne Airport experienced a slender 0.8 per cent increase.