More passengers travelled through Sydney Airport in April
Airport operator MAp Airports Ltd has reported Thursday that Sydney Airport saw a spike in domestic travellers which lifted the terminal's overall passenger numbers by 6.4 percent in April, with the local passengers' traffic jumping by 8.6 percent while international travellers contributed a bit with 1.5 percent increase.
MAp chief executive Kerrie Mather said that Sydney performed considerably well and "particularly pleasing is the fact that all domestic airlines increased capacity at Sydney this month, while competition on key routes and falling real airfares have driven increased demand for business and leisure travel across Australia."
She added that boosted traffic activities by Tiger Airways, Qantas Airways Ltd and Jetstar Airways contributed to the passenger growth in Sydney last April but noted too that traffic in its European counterparts suffered lower passenger turnouts on the same month.
Ms Mather said that Copenhagen passenger traffic slid by 19.2 percent in April while the Brussels terminal saw a decline of 23 percent, which she attributed to the volcanic ash from Iceland though she clarified that both gateways had since resumed normal operations.
It must be recalled that hundreds of flights were grounded while thousands were stranded across Europe as almost every airport on the continent were shut down in April due to the ash cloud that formed after Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted.
Ms Mather is upbeat though that the ash cloud from the volcanic eruptions will disappear completely, as she added that "there is not expected to be a permanent impact on traffic."
She revealed that MAp is set to hold its annual general meeting on May 27 in Sydney and shareholders can look forward on decent stock results though MAp shares last traded at $2.81, down a bit by five cents or 1.75 percent.