More than 579,000 passengers passed through Queensland Airports Limited's (QAL) four airports in February 2019.
This represents a 4.7 per cent downturn for the group, with fewer passengers at Gold Coast, Townsville and Longreach airports reflective of a downward trend in passenger numbers across Australia and ongoing capacity constraints by the airli nes. However, QAL's fourth port, Mount Isa Airport, bucked the trend to deliver another strong month of growth during February.
A summary of February 's results is provided in the table below.
QAL CEO Chris Mills said the lower passenger numbers at Gold Coast Airport were a factor of less airline capacity, but the loads remained strong.
"The number of passenger s flying domestically has dipped across Australia in the past two months.
reflecting the airlines' ongoing tight management of th eir fleets," he said.
"Latest figures released by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) show passenger numbers fell 0.2 per cent in January 2019 - the second consecutive monthly decrease. The last time there was a decline was October 2015.
"As a result of this tight management, we are seeing aircraft loads continue to rise, with the average load at Gold Coast Airport increasing to 84.5 per cent during February - among the highest in the country.
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February 201 9 results
201 9 201 8 Change Gold Coast 458,818 480,855 -4.6% Townsville 102,795 110,964 -7.4% Mount Isa 15,410 13,759 12.0% Longreach 2,055 2,209 -7.0% Total passengers 579,078 607,787 -4.7% Passenger numbers at Mount Isa Airport continued to go from strength -to-strength, recording a 12 per cent rise i n February 2019 -despite the significant flood that impacted North West Queensland.
This builds on a strong year in 2018 when growth was recorded in 11 of the 12 months at Mount Isa.
Passenger numbers dropped at Townsville Airport in February, in a month impacted by the flooding disaster.
