January passenger figures for Perth Airport have shown continued growth in both the domestic and international sectors, new figures show.
January passenger figures for Perth Airport have shown continued growth in both the domestic and international sectors, new figures show.
The number of international passengers travelling through Perth Airport increased by 7.9 per cent on January last year and financial year to date passenger figures for international travellers was up overall by 4.5 per cent to 1.5 million passengers.
Perth Airport chief executive Brad Geatches said Perth has benefited from a range of new services operating to and from Perth in the last few months which was being reflected in the solid passenger numbers.
"The increase in low cost carriers operating services to Perth has meant Western Australians have had the opportunity to take advantage of lower airfares," he said.
"These January passenger figures demonstrate that Western Australians have enjoyed these increased international services and realised it was a great opportunity to travel.
"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 said.
On the domestic and regional front, passenger numbers were up by 5.3 per cent on January 2008 and up by 8.9 per cent 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.