Record passenger volumes in school holidays set to test aviation sector

Australia’s busiest airports and largest airlines have expressed confidence that they will be able to cope with record-breaking passenger volumes over the next fortnight as travellers flock to the skies during the September school holidays.

NSW joins Victoria on school holidays next week, but the aviation pressure test is expected to begin before then. Thursday is a public holiday to mourn the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and thousands of people are expected to travel to Melbourne for this weekend’s AFL grand final.

The aviation sector is bracing to be tested by the September school holiday period after being marred by record flight cancellations, long queues and flailing performance in July. Credit:James Alcock

Nearly 2.4 million passengers will travel through Kingsford Smith’s terminals during the 21-day school holiday period, according to Sydney Airport, surpassing the 2.1 million passengers who were subject to a swathe of flight cancellations, delays, lost baggage and snaking queues in July.

At least 720,000 of these passengers are expected to be international visitors. More than 1.5 million people will travel through Melbourne Airport’s terminals during the same period, with airlines predicted to carry more than one million domestic travellers and 320,000 international visitors.

Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbert said the daily passenger rate at the airport will be three times the capacity of Sydney’s Cricket Ground for the next two weeks. He said the airport is “better placed” than it was for the corresponding April and July chaos but advised travellers to expect disruptions during peak periods, particularly on Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings.

Sydney Airport lost 15,000 workers during the COVID-19 lockdowns. It has so far filled more than 10,000 vacant roles but continues to be affected by a global labour shortage.

The airport held its second jobs fair on Thursday, hoping to fill the remaining roles which include more than 200 security vacancies. Melbourne Airport could not provide a vacancy estimate but said the situation had improved since July.

As it stands, Sydney Airport does not have enough staff to cover the security areas of its three terminals. This means staff must be triaged across the areas with the most congestion, opening other areas to long queues and increased risk of complications or delays.

Travellers at both airports are advised to pre-book parking, arrive two hours ahead of departure for domestic flights and three hours before an international flight.

Melbourne Airport boss Lorie Argues said the airport is ready for the AFL revellers and influx of Sydneysiders, adding her team is doing what they can to support the airline’s improve their operational performance. She cautioned passengers to heed the arrival time recommendations set out by the airports to “take pressure off themselves and the system.”

“We’ve learnt a lot of lessons about how to manage queues over the past year. If passengers heed our arrival recommendations we are confident they will all get on their flights,” Culbert said.

The Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics data for domestic flights in August shows 82 per cent of Regional Express flights departed on time, compared with 70 per cent of Virgin Australia flights, 62 per cent of Qantas flights and 60 per cent of Jetstar flights. Rex cancelled 0.8 per cent of flights in August, to Virgin’s 2.5 per cent, Qantas’ 3.9 per cent and Jetstar’s 5.4 per cent. Last school holidays, the industry’s flight cancellation rate was three times the long-term average.

Rex deputy chairman John Sharp was quick to slam competitors, crediting his staff for buoying the airline during a tough period for the industry, “contrary to what other carriers want you to believe, shocking reliability and equally appalling customer service is not an inevitable outcome even in today’s very challenging environment,” he said on Wednesday.

Qantas says its operational performance is now close to pre-COVID-19 levels, with internal data showing the carrier’s on time performance jumped to 71 per cent for the first two weeks of September while cancellations fell to 2 per cent. Before COVID-19, the airline cancelled 2.4 per cent of flights and its on time performance hovered around 80 per cent.

Virgin Australia also said its September performance metrics have improved on the August figures. The airline expects a 15 per cent increase in passengers over September compared to the 1.2 million July school holiday period. The group hired more than 500 people in operational roles since July to prepare accordingly, but said the carrier appreciated the “patience of all travellers” during the peak period.

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