Christopher Hughes
Research expert covering Australia and New Zealand
Aviation in Australia - statistics & facts
The aviation industry includes aircraft manufacturers, passenger, and freight airlines and covers everything from aircraft production and development to in-service operation and maintenance. Australia's aviation industry is home to aircraft production and pilot training facilities from international industry leaders like Boeing and Airbus. Domestic aviation accounts for a significant proportion of national travel undertaken by Australians annually, coming second to passenger car usage in terms of billion passenger kilometers covered.
Due to Australia’s need for domestic aviation, the country's airports are busy. In terms of passenger movements, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were the busiest international airports by a significant margin compared to Perth and Adelaide. For regional-only airports, Cairns had the highest number of passenger movements, at just over two million.
Historical data looks a little different for international air freight. Across the same time period, the volume of air freight shipped internationally experienced steady growth until 2019. The downward trend continued until 2021, when just 894.9 thousand tons of freight were shipped. This can be attributed to, at least in part, aircraft groundings and border closures resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
Airlines and airports
During the coronavirus pandemic, Australia’s flag-carrying, full-service, domestic and international airline Qantas inevitably saw significant reductions revenue and passenger numbers reductions. However, in 2022, the airline's revenue and passenger numbers began to recover; revenue rose to just over nine billion Australian dollars, with 21.25 million passengers carried. While these still aren’t quite pre-pandemic figures, they represent an increase from the previous financial year, indicating that the industry is recovering.Due to Australia’s need for domestic aviation, the country's airports are busy. In terms of passenger movements, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were the busiest international airports by a significant margin compared to Perth and Adelaide. For regional-only airports, Cairns had the highest number of passenger movements, at just over two million.
Air freight
The volume of domestic air freight in Australia has fluctuated significantly during the last ten years. In 2012, 236.3 thousand tons of air freight were carried across the country, but this figure dropped just two years later to 192.4 thousand tons. In 2019, airborne shipping peaked again at an all-time high of 236.4 thousand tons, before falling to just under 200 thousand tons in 2021.Historical data looks a little different for international air freight. Across the same time period, the volume of air freight shipped internationally experienced steady growth until 2019. The downward trend continued until 2021, when just 894.9 thousand tons of freight were shipped. This can be attributed to, at least in part, aircraft groundings and border closures resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
