Cairns Airport has recorded an increase in passenger numbers despite reduced seats.
Chief Commercial Officer – Aviation Paul McLean said the reduction of seats and transit passengers was due to fewer through-flights. A through-flight is one where Cairns is a mid-point, for example Philippine Airlines’ suspended Manila-Cairns-Auckland service.
“The reduction of non-dedicated flights to Cairns has resulted in more people traveling to Cairns rather than through Cairns,” Mr McLean said.
Cairns Airport welcomed 389,380 passengers during May, an overall increase of 1 per cent from the same time in 2017.
While international passenger numbers were relatively steady, domestic travellers grew by 6890 – or two per cent – on May 2017.
Current and historic Cairns Airport passenger numbers and air traffic statistics are available here.