Easter Thursday saw Australian skies at their busiest in five years, bouncing back from dramatic falls in traveller numbers in March, due to Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said while the latest Domestic Airline Competition report detailed the travel disruptions in March, airlines and airports were expecting to record a significant increase in travellers in April.
Commissioner Brakey said this co-incided with school holidays, Easter and ANZAC day all condensed into a three-week period.
“Airservices Australia noted that April 17, the Thursday before Good Friday, was the busiest day for domestic travel in the past five years.”
She said this followed disruptions to travel in March, when passenger levels declined by 4.9 percent compared to March 2024, which could be attributed to Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred and associated severe weather events along the east coast of Australia.
“Flights operating between Brisbane-Sydney and Brisbane-Melbourne experienced a 9.9 percent and 9 percent reduction in passengers in March 2025 respectively.
“Meanwhile, Gold Coast and Maroochydore airports experienced the biggest decline in passengers over this period by 30.2 percent and 25.1 percent respectively.”
Commissioner Brakey said the weather disruptions also contributed to the average industry flight cancellation rate increasing significantly in March to 5 percent, compared to the long-term industry average of 2.2 percent.
