Domestic aviation activity

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

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

Summary

Graph of monthly domestic passenger traffic June 2026
Graph of monthly domestic passenger traffic June 2026

There were 5.10 million passengers carried on Australian domestic commercial aviation (including charter operations) in June 2026 compared with 5.05 million in June 2025 (up 1.0%). This is an increase of 3.7% on pre-COVID June 2019 passenger numbers (4.92 million).

4.69 million passengers were carried on Regular Public Transport (RPT) flights in June 2026 (excluding charter operations), a decrease of 0.1% compared with June 2025.

For the month of June 2026 there were 47.6 thousand RPT aircraft trips, a decrease of 2.3% on June 2025.

For the year ending June 2026 there were 60.75 million RPT passengers, an increase of 2.2% on the year ending June 2025.

RPT revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) performed were 5.64 billion for the month, compared with 5.69 billion in June 2025 (down 0.8%).

Capacity, measured by available seat kilometres (ASKs), decreased to 6.92 billion in June 2026 compared with 7.10 billion in June 2025 (down 2.5%).

The industry-wide load factor (RPKs/ASKs) increased from 80.1% in June 2025 to 81.5% in June 2026. 

Total cargo movements at Australian airports on domestic RPT flights were 27.3 thousand tonnes in June 2026, an increase of 4.3% compared with June 2025. 

In June 2026 there were 2.08 million domestic passenger movements through regional airports, an increase of 0.1% from June 2025. 

Fixed-wing charter operators carried 409.9 thousand passengers in June 2026, an increase of 15.8% compared with June 2025.

Summary of annual RPT activity

  YE June 2025 YE June 2026 % Change
Total passengers carried (millions) 59.46 60.75 2.2
Revenue passenger kilometres (billions) 71.62 73.26 2.3
Available seats (millions) 73.32 75.26 2.6
Available seat kilometres (billions) 86.35 89.08 3.2
Load factor % 82.9 82.2 -0.7*
Aircraft trips (000s)  601.0 602.9 0.3

* percentage point difference

Domestic aviation activity—cities and regions

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Below is a summary analysis of data from Regular Public Transport Domestic Aviation Activity in Australia by route type. The data file is available further down this page.

Summary—2025-26

Flights by route type

Flights on Regional and Remote routes combined dropped from 329,593 in 2024-25 to 325,063 in 2025-26 – a decrease of 1.4 per cent. Over the same period, flights between airports located in Major Cities increased from 248,206 to 255,570 - an increase of 3.0 per cent.
 

Graph of flights by route 2025-26

 

Passengers (millions) by route type

Passengers on Regional and Remote routes combined increased from 23.6 million in 2024-25 to 24.1 million in 2025-26 - an increase of 2.2 per cent. Over the same period, passengers carried between airports located in Major Cities increased from 35.8 million to 36.6 million - an increase of 2.2 per cent.
 

Graph of passengers by route 2025-26

 

Load factors (RPKs/ASKs as a percentage) by route type

Load factor on Regional and Remote routes combined decrease from 79.1 per cent in 2024-25 to 78.7 per cent in 2025-26. Over the same period, the load factor on flights between Major cities decreased from 85.5 per cent to 84.6 per cent.
 

Graph of load factor 2025-26

Airport traffic data

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The files below contain monthly and annual details of passenger and aircraft movement data on scheduled regular Public Transport services at selected Australian airports.

Australian domestic aviation activity—monthly publications

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1832-1968
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This report covers monthly domestic aircraft (including charter) and passenger movements, available seats, load factors, revenue passenger kilometres and available seat kilometres. Details are provided for the top competitive routes, the top 10 domestic airports in terms of RPT passenger movements, top 5 airports in terms of cargo movements and the top 50 regional airports. Also included are details on charter passengers and aircraft flights where BITRE confidentiality standards are met.

Related information

Australian domestic aviation activity—annual publications

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1832-1968
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This report summarises annual domestic (including regional) aircraft and passenger movements, available seats, load factors, revenue passenger kilometres and available seat kilometres. Details are provided for the top competitive routes and the major airports. Estimates of charter passengers and charter aircraft flights are included in this publication where BITRE confidentiality standards are met.

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Australian domestic aviation activity—time series

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1832-1968
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These files contain domestic aviation time series. The data cover aircraft and passenger movements, available seats, load factors, hours and kilometres flown, revenue passenger kilometres, available seat kilometres, cargo carried by domestic airlines and details for the top competitive routes.