Strong airport growth

Next month, Singapore Airlines will become the first airline operating into Perth to carry 500,000 international passengers in a year. The new benchmark underscores the incredible growth of air travel into and out of Perth Airport, with Singapore Airlines operating 19 Boeing 777-200 services a week.

The growth of Perth Airport’s traffic is also the tale of different tails, as aircraft technology and capability has altered the dynamics of how we travel.

In 1985, Perth Airport handled 484,577 international passengers – mostly on 747s. The frequency of dedicated flights was low with a considerable number of transit flights, such as South African Airways and Qantas flights from Sydney to Johannesburg through Perth, and British Airways flights from New Zealand to London via Perth, Singapore and Bahrain.

It was not uncommon to see five 747s together at the airport, but for the rest of the day the international apron was largely deserted.

By 1995 the dynamics were beginning to change, with smaller three-engine jumbos, such as the DC-10s, appearing more frequently at the new international terminal in the colours of airlines such as Malaysian and Thai International.

Passenger numbers were climbing with 1,156,168 international passengers using the airport, an increase of 139 per cent over 1985, while frequency of flights was up 161 per cent to 7,692 movements. However, a number of airlines, such as Cathay Pacific, still had to make additional stops en route to/from Perth either to pick up passengers or fuel.

But a radical change was on the way. During the late 1990s, aircraft were being delivered to airlines that were much better sized to the majority of markets and they also had the range to fly most long-range routes. These twin-engine types were also far more economical than the three- and four-engine aircraft they replaced.

Leading the pack was the 777-200ER operated by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, while Cathay Pacific, Thai International and Garuda operated A330s into Perth.

In 2005 1,977,262 international passengers arrived or departed from Perth on 10,423 flights. And these passengers flew mostly on 300 passenger twin-engine aircraft, such as 777s, 767s and A330s. At the same time, virtually all flights into and out of Perth were now dedicated to Perth traffic, with airlines reporting load factors in the 90 per cent range.

And the records continue to tumble. For 2005-06 Perth Airport surpassed the seven million passenger mark for domestic and international passengers. The airport handled 7,135,449 passengers – a lift of 7 per cent over the previous year.

Domestic traffic was up 9 per cent to 5,107,657 and international increased 2 per cent to 2,027,792 passengers.

The international growth has been tempered by terrorist attacks, particularly in Bali.

The boom in traffic into Perth has enabled the airport to record 48 months of record growth.