Up, up and away: airport numbers rise An increasing number of Australian travellers, bouyed by the the strong dollar, and an influx of Chinese tourists underpinned a large rise in international passengers through Sydney Airport last month.

Figures released yesterday by Macquarie Airports, which owns the airport, indicated that the growth in overseas traffic shows no sign of abating, supporting the contention of airlines such as Qantas and operators like Macquarie Airports that passenger numbers and profits will be well up over the next financial year.

Year-on-year numbers for September were higher by 8.2 per cent, with 845,000 people travelling on international services last month compared with 781,000 in the same period 12 months ago.

The monthly percentage increase outstripped the 6.3 per cent rise in the annual figures to date, which showed that 7.53 million international travellers used Sydney Airport in the year to the end of September, or 450,000 more passengers than in the 12 months to September 2006.

In terms of actual numbers, Australian flyers leaving the country led the way, with an 11 per cent increase. For those coming into Sydney, the number of Chinese visitors rose by 20 per cent and Canadian, German and French visitors also showing double-digit growth.

The number of Korean and Japanese visitors dropped significantly, by 13 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.

The latest overall increase comes as Sydney prepares for the arrival next week of the new superjumbo, the double-decker Airbus A380, the first of which is to be operated by Singapore Airlines.

The A380, which can carry nearly 500 passengers, will become a regular sight at Sydney, with Qantas, Emirates, Eithad and British Airways all due to be using the aircraft on long-haul services within two years.

Sydney Airport is also benefitting from more weekly services on many of its outbound routes.

Jetstar's international arm has just started three flights a week to Kuala Lumpur, and Cathay Pacific is to add four more flights to Hong Kong in February.

The health of the aviation industry was further underlined by a 6.7 per cent rise in the number of passengers who flew with Air New Zealand last month, with its long-haul services rising sharply thanks, in part, to Kiwi fans travelling to Paris for the Rugby World Cup.