LONDON – According to data from RadarBox.com, Sydney Kingsford Airport has experienced an increase of nearly 300% in flight movements.
The airport is slowly approaching pre-pandemic levels, but still has a bit more work to do to reach that level.
Without further ado, let’s get into the numbers…
The Numbers…
For this week, the airport is expected to handle around 836 movements, which is a +287.04% increase compared to the same period last year, which was recorded at 216 movements.
2019’s numbers for that week are around 977 movements, so there is still a little bit more work to do in order to reach pre-pandemic levels.
It was the month of July that the airport started experiencing triple-digit growth, with the following couple of weeks’ worth of information as follows:
- May 28-June 4: 736 movements (+22.26%)
- June 4-11: 748 movements (+27.43%)
- June 11-18: 758 movements (+20.51%)
- June 18-25: 753 movements (+48.52%)
- June 25-July 2: 745 movements (+159.58%)
- July 2-9: 745 movements (+182.20%)
Still Room for Growth…
American Airlines is a victim of aircraft delivery delays. This means that Sydney to Los Angeles flights is being suspended from 5th May.
American Airlines stated that the U.S plane manufacturer Boeing has delayed the delivery of the 787-9 Dreamliner.
American Airlines is now planning to accept only 10 of the 13 Dreamliners it had scheduled for delivery this year. The remaining aircraft will be delivered next year.
An American Airlines representative said that the airline remains committed to flying to Australia despite the delay.
The airline is hinting that they will return in October.
“Due to ongoing delivery delays with several Boeing 787 aircraft, we continue adjusting our schedule. We expect to resume service between Los Angeles and Sydney in October.”
The oneworld carrier faces disruption not only on the Sydney route but also had to trim some of its network, including Seattle to London, and Dallas to Santiago.
The Airline is also delaying the launch of its new routes between Dallas and Tel Aviv and reducing frequency on its Miami and São Paulo route.
Meanwhile, American competitors United Airlines and Delta Air Lines continue to operate daily flights between the Australian capital and Los Angeles.
Vasu Raja, American Airlines’ chief revenue officer expressed: “Without these widebodies, we simply won’t be able to fly as much internationally as we had planned next summer.”
“Without these widebodies, we simply won’t be able to fly as much internationally as we had planned next summer or as we did in summer 2019.”
Overall…
It remains clear that despite cancellations from other carriers, Sydney’s traffic is on the up and up, which is significant news given the relaxation of international travel restrictions.
Looking ahead, all eyes are going to be on the airport for the rest of the year, as the road to recovery continues to be the main target for Sydney.
Either way, Sydney is making progress, and that is what matters.
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