Domestic aviation activity

Information and data on domestic aviation can be found at the following links.

• Australian domestic aviation activity—time series
• Australian domestic aviation activity—monthly publications
• Australian domestic aviation activity—annual publications
• Domestic aviation activity—Cities and Regions

Below are graphs and summary analysis relating to domestic aviation activity.      

Summary

There were 5.16 million passengers carried on Australian domestic commercial aviation (including charter operations) in May 2026, compared with 5.2 million in May 2025 (down 0.9%). This is an increase of 0.6% on pre-COVID May 2019 passenger numbers (5.12 million).

4.78 million passengers were carried on Regular Public Transport (RPT) flights in May 2026 (excluding charter operations), a decrease of 1.2% compared with May 2025.

For the month of May 2026 there were 48.5 thousand RPT aircraft trips, a decrease of 3.8% on May 2025.

For the year ending May 2026 there were 60.76 million RPT passengers, an increase of 2.4% on the year ending May 2025.

RPT revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) performed were 5.70 billion for the month, compared with 5.76 billion in May 2025 (down 1.1%).

Capacity, measured by available seat kilometres (ASKs), decreased to 7.00 billion in May 2026 compared with 7.14 billion in May 2025 (down 1.9%).

The industry wide load factor (RPKs/ASKs) increased from 80.7% in May 2025 to 81.4% in May 2026. 

Total cargo movements at Australian airports on domestic RPT flights were 25.9 thousand tonnes in May 2026, a decrease of 6.2% compared with May 2025. 

In May 2026 there were 2.04 million domestic passenger movements through regional airports, a decrease of 1.3% from May 2025. 

Fixed-wing charter operators carried 377.0 thousand passengers in May 2026, an increase of 2.4% compared with May 2025.

Summary of annual RPT activity

* percentage point difference