January was the busiest month in Melbourne Airport’s history – with a record 3,393,977 passengers welcomed through the terminals.
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Steve Dimopoulos and Melbourne Airport Chief Executive, Lorie Argus, today celebrated the milestone at Melbourne Airport – shattering the previous record from December 2019 by more than 70,000 passengers.
A new single day record was also set – on Friday, 24 January more than 23,000 international visitors arrived at Melbourne Airport for the Australian Open and to enjoy Lunar New Year in Victoria, filling hotels and restaurants and backing local businesses and jobs.
“We are the events capital and we continue to secure the best events in Australia. The Australian Open, the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the NFL – these events are only here in Victoria and they bring people from all around the globe,” said Minister Dimopoulos.
“This is great news for the whole state – these record numbers of travellers are filling our hotels and restaurants, supporting tourism operators across the state, and backing local businesses and jobs.”
Earlier this month, the Government secured a deal with Melbourne Airport for Delta Air Lines to deliver three new direct flights per week from Los Angeles to Melbourne from December this year.
The flights will bring thousands more tourists from the USA and Canada – typically outdoor and adventure seeking travellers, and Victoria is brimming with natural wonders for them to explore. Leisure travellers from the USA spent $239 million in Victoria in the last year.
“Since the Australian border reopened in 2021, we’ve been working closely with the Victorian government to rebuild international airline capacity into Melbourne, and we’re now seeing the benefits.”
“It’s incredible to think that in just three years we’ve rebuilt international capacity from close to nothing, to the point where we are setting new records.”
Overseas travellers continue to flock to Victoria and the latest data shows tourism spend has hit a record high of $39.7 billion, with the international spend now surpassing 2019 levels.
