Aviation

Chapter 6

airplane

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This chapter provides data on airline activity, aircraft numbers, on time performance and airfare price indexes. Information is provided for both international and domestic airlines, as well as a breakdown of airport traffic by state. 

  • 602 thousand Australian domestic flights occurred in 2024–25. As with international activity, the full recovery of the aviation industry to pre-COVID levels has not yet occurred. At the height of the pandemic, domestic flights fell to 327 thousand, fewer than flight numbers in 1977–78.
  • 11,995 Piston aircraft were registered as of 31 December 2024, which is 163 more than the year before. The number of helicopters registered increased from 2593 to 2730 over the same period.
  • Sydney had the highest number of aircraft movements, with 292 thousand in 2024–25.
  • International flights from Australia, are steadily recovering from the impacts of COVID. In 2024–25 there were 209 thousand flights, up from only 45 thousand four years earlier.

Figure 12 Australia’s top 40 airports in 2024-25, passengers

Figure 12 Australia’s top 40 airports in 2024-25, passengers

Source: BITRE (2025) Aviation Statistics - Airport Traffic data

Figure 12 shows Australia’s top 40 airports by domestic and international passenger movements. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are the airports which experienced the most activity, with some regional airports outside of the top 30 entering and exiting the list.

Figure 13 International and Domestic airline revenue passengers

Figure 13 International and Domestic airline revenue passengers

Source: BITRE (2025), Aviation Statistics - International Airline Activity
BITRE (2025), Aviation Statistics - Domestic Airline Activity

Figure 13 shows international and domestic revenue passengers. Since the early 1980s, the number of fare-paying passengers, uplifted and discharged in Australia, was steadily increasing both domestically and internationally, before a sharp drop beginning in 2019–20 and recovering to around pre–COVID levels by 2024–25.

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