Sydney Airport reports 78.8% traffic recovery to pre-Covid level

Sydney, Feb 21 (IANS) Sydney Airport on Tuesday released a monthly report on its traffic performance, saying that a total of 3,120,000 passengers passed through it in January, which marked a 78.8 per cent recovery compared to the pre-Covid level.

According to the report, domestic passenger traffic totaled 1,887,000, representing an 82.4 per cent recovery compared to January 2019, while 1,233,000 international travellers passed through the airport, registering a 73.9 per cent recovery, reports Xinhua news agency.

The airport also revealed the top 10 nationalities of passengers taking flights.

In January, Australians took the top spot, followed by passengers from New Zealand and the US.

"It has been a challenging year for Sydney Airport since Australia reopened its border, but we are now seeing a steady stream of international travellers eager to explore the world again," said Geoff Culbert, the airport's chief executive officer.

Culbert noted that in January, the number of US and British travellers came to only three-quarters of their pre-Covid levels, while the number of passengers from previously popular European countries like Germany and France was even lower.