Australian Airports are on the way to recovery after returning to profit for the first post-pandemic financial year.
The aeronautical operations of Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney have made significant strides in recovering from the impact of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission monitored all four airports and reported losses in aeronautical operations in 2021-22.
The airports had a combined total of 100.7 million passengers through 2022-23, a 127.4 percent increase from the previous year.
Despite this increase, domestic passengers were 10.4 percent below pre-pandemic levels, with international passengers 31 percent below.
“Australia’s four largest airports reported a significant increase in aeronautical revenues and a return to aeronautical operating profits in 2022-23, as interstate and international travel restrictions ended and people returned to the sky,” said Anna Brakey, ACCC commissioner.
“The airports stayed open during the pandemic and continued to incur some aeronautical expenses without their usual level of accompanying revenues. As passengers returned in 2022-23, aeronautical revenues increased more than expenses, which lifted profit margins closer to pre-pandemic levels.”
Perth Airport recorded an aeronautical operating profit margin of 34.6 percent in 2022-23, followed by Sydney Airport at 29.1 percent, Brisbane Airport at 28.8 percent and Melbourne Airport at 22.9 percent.
The four airports combined invested AUD 559 million in aeronautical operations in 2022-23, a relatively modest amount compared to years before the pandemic.
Melbourne Airport invested much of this in various facilities, such as roads, taxiways, and terminals.
“We believe there needs to be greater requirements on airports to provide information to airlines, to address the imbalance of power in commercial negotiations,” Brakey continued.
“We have also recommended that the Aeronautical Pricing Principles be reviewed, including making them mandatory and enforceable.”
The overall quality of service at each of the airports was rated as ‘good’ in 2022-23. The data is underpinned by the ratings drawn from surveys of passengers and airlines, which were collected for the first time since the pandemic.
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