Surprising Results in Australia's Busiest Flight Paths
New data has revealed Australia's most heavily travelled international city pairs, with the Melbourne to Singapore route unexpectedly claiming the top position. This busy corridor sees more than 1.776 million passengers flying between the two cities each year, surprising aviation analysts with its volume.
Singapore Dominates Top Three Positions
Singapore features prominently across the leaderboard, occupying all top three spots. The Sydney to Singapore route follows closely behind with 1.705 million passengers annually, while Perth to Singapore claims third position with 1.455 million travellers. Another notable surprise came from the Perth to Denpasar route, which secured fifth position with 1.110 million passengers, partly boosted by a larger number of low-cost international airlines serving Perth compared to other major Australian cities.
Brisbane's Struggle and Data Quirks
Brisbane, hit hardest by Virgin's departure from long-haul international flying in 2020, doesn't appear until eighth spot. The Brisbane to Singapore route recorded 946,306 passengers, just ahead of Brisbane to Auckland (928,353) and Sydney to Hong Kong (922,351). The data, compiled by AnalyticFlying.com from federal government BITRE figures, contains some interesting peculiarities. Evan from Analytic Flying noted that passenger numbers can fluctuate significantly year to year due to operational changes. "In the last year, on some Qantas Singapore flights operated with Finnair aircraft, quite a few of those flights got cancelled when Finnair had some strikes," he explained.
Another data quirk involves how connecting passengers are counted. Those flying Sydney-Singapore-London on Qantas aren't added to the Sydney-Singapore route's passenger numbers because the flight number (QF1/QF2) doesn't change across both legs. However, Melbourne-Singapore-London passengers are counted on the Melbourne-Singapore route because the flight number changes between segments.
"I suppose the biggest surprise," says Analytic Flying's Evan, "There was a lot more capacity to New Zealand before the pandemic, and at the same time, higher traveller numbers between Australia and New Zealand." Auckland appears in three of the top ten busiest routes involving Australian cities, highlighting Virgin's decision to pull out of much of its trans-Tasman flying after COVID. The airline now only offers services to Queenstown, relying on a codeshare agreement with Air New Zealand for other cities.
Brisbane has around 150,000 fewer seats than before the pandemic, which Analytic Flying describes as "quite worrying" given that Brisbane has poached many international flights from the Gold Coast during that same period. The capacity loss between Australia and New Zealand has contributed to higher airfares over time, affecting travel affordability across the Tasman.
