BITRE, the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, has released a report into the growth of aviation in regional Australia. The report notes that the growth in total passenger movements in regional Australia is growing at faster rate than airports in major cities.
The report has found that passenger numbers at regional airports increased from nearly 17 million to over 22 million between 2005 and 2010. Most of the growth was from the increase of passengers travelling on regional air routes between major cities and regional areas, which makes up more than 90 per cent of the regional aviation market.
Between 2005 and 2010 the average annual growth rate for passengers at regional airports was 6 percent compared to 5.7 percent in major cities.
What this shows it that the long-term outlook for regional aviation and operators is very positive, with these figures demonstrating emerging opportunities for operators to expand and grow their businesses.
Other findings include:
- a small drop in the number of airports serving regional areas from 169 to 148, however the decline has stabilised
- a slight increase in the number of air routes between regional areas from 234 to 266
- eight new airlines serving regional passengers bringing it to a total of 28.
A copy of the report is available from the BITRE website (www.bitre.gov.au.) or from this link pdf BITRE Air Transport Trends in Regional Australia
http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/aa/releases/2012/March/aa038_2012.aspx for media release from Department of Infrastucture and Transport.