SYDNEY, May 1 (Xinhua) -- A new government report has shown that the aeronautical operations of Australia's four major airports returned to profit in 2022-23, the first full financial year since the end of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
In its Airport Monitoring Report released on Tuesday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission confirmed that Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney airports saw 100.7 million passengers in total passing through in 2022-23, up 127.4 percent from the previous year.
But the number of domestic passengers was still 10.4 percent below pre-pandemic levels, with international passengers 31 percent below.
According to the report, Perth Airport recorded an aeronautical operating profit margin of 34.6 percent in 2022-23, followed by Sydney Airport at 29.1 percent, Brisbane Airport at 28.8 percent, and Melbourne Airport at 22.9 percent.
Perth Airport's aeronautical operating profit margin was slightly higher than its 2018-19 record of 34.2 percent, but the readings of Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne were lower than before the pandemic,
The four airports combined invested 559 million Australian dollars (about 361.8 million U.S. dollars) in aeronautical operations in 2022-23, which is a relatively modest amount compared to years prior to the pandemic.
"Australia's four largest airports reported a significant increase in aeronautical revenues and a return to aeronautical operating profits in 2022-23, as interstate and international travel restrictions ended and people returned to the sky," ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
"The airports stayed open during the pandemic and continued to incur some aeronautical expenses, without their usual level of accompanying revenues. As passengers returned in 2022-23, aeronautical revenues increased more than expenses, which lifted profit margins closer to pre-pandemic level," she added. ■
