Paris Olympics, Holiday Season Help Australia’s Aviation Sector Recover to Pre-COVID-19

Passengers at Sydney Airport face a long wait to clear security in Sydney, Australia, on July 31, 2017. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

The Paris Olympic Games and the school holiday season have helped the Australian aviation industry recover to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels in July 2024 despite some challenging developments.

According to a new report (pdf) by Airservices Australia, the country’s aviation network saw a 4 percent increase in daily average flights in July compared to the previous month.

On average, there were 3,805 flights per day, the same as July 2019’s level.

The total number of domestic flights reached 99,358, around 102 percent of July 2019’s level and up 3 percent from May 2024.

While total international flights rose from 17,529 in May to 18,597 in July, the figure was only equal to 92 percent of July 2019’s level.

“The start of the 2025 financial year is marked by a number of positive economic developments, such as a surge in Australian tourism to Japan driven by a weak Yen, decreasing airfares, and increasing business travel demand,” the report said.

“However, jet fuel supply issues, cost-of-living pressures, and global economic uncertainty continue to pose concerns for our industry growth.”

Within the domestic network, the mining industry continued to drive up the number of passenger flights at regional airports in Western Australia and Queensland.

The robust growth put pressure on the regional network, causing congestion and delays, especially during peak periods.

This was exacerbated by the suspension of Rex’s Boeing 737 services at the end of July.

On July 31, regional airline Rex entered into voluntary administration following the collapse of budget airline Bonza.

The administration procedure has resulted in 600 job losses, leaving Rex’s and the remaining 1,000 employees’ futures uncertain.

Meanwhile, there was significant growth in the international network.

Compared to June 2024, European, South East Asian, Chinese, and New Zealand markets all achieved over 20 percent growth in July.

Notably, air traffic from Australia to Europe and the Indian subcontinent surged by 71 percent and 130 percent compared to July 2019.

“These markets reflect the popular tourist destinations for the July school holiday and the effects of the Paris Olympic Games, including the introduction of a new direct route between Paris and Perth in July 2024,” the report said.

Drop in On-Time Performance

Despite the growth in domestic and international flights, Australia’s aviation network experienced a fall in on-time performance (OTP), which was mainly caused by adverse weather.

“The overall industry OTP in Australia declined largely due to weather disruptions,” the report said.

“OTP in other markets, especially in Europe, has also decreased, affected by their summer weather challenges as well as industrial actions.”

At the same time, ground delays across the aviation network considerably increased in the month.

Issues such as strong crosswinds, CrowdStrike IT outages, and low visibility operations at three major airports in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane were the main contributors to prolonged ground delays in July.

“July saw the highest application of simultaneous Ground Delay Program (GDP) on the East Coast for 2024 to date and a 33 percent increase in ground delay across the network,” the report said.

“GDP compliance dropped below 80 percent for the first time in four months.”