International airline activity
Summary
Sixty-one international airlines operated scheduled services to/from Australia during the month (includes 3 dedicated freight airlines but excludes airlines operating only via codeshare arrangements).
International scheduled passenger traffic in May 2026 was 3.302 million compared with 3.348 million in May 2025, representing a decrease of 1.4%. This is the second consecutive monthly year-on-year decline, following the decrease recorded in April 2026. Prior to these recent declines, the last monthly year-on-year decrease occurred in October 2021 (COVID).
Passenger traffic for the year ended May 2026 was 45.690 million which is a 6.6% increase over the figure for the year ended May 2025 (42.849 million).
Total seats made available on international scheduled operations to/from Australia during May 2026 were 4.259 million – a decrease of 0.9% compared with May 2025. Overall seat utilisation was 79.6% in May 2026. It was 79.9% in May 2025 and 76.7% in May 2024.
Summary of year-on-year activity
| Year ended May 2025 | Year ended May 2026 | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total passenger movements (million) | 42.849 | 45.690 | 6.6 |
Summary of month-on-month activity
| May 2025 | May 2026 | % Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passengers carried (million) | 3.348 | 3.302 | -1.4 |
| Freight (tonnes) | 90470 | 92883 | 2.7 |
| Mail (tonnes) | 2164 | 2096 | -3.1 |
| Available seats (million) | 4.296 | 4.259 | -0.9 |
| Flights | 16898 | 16999 | 0.6 |
| Aircraft movements | 17 324 | 173 31 | 0.0 |
