List of the busiest airports in Australia

Total monthly arrivals to Australia since 1976

This is a list of the busiest airports in Australia by passenger traffic, passenger movements and aircraft movements.

Top 50 airports by revenue passenger traffic

This is a list of the revenue passenger traffic by airport from 2023 to 2024, compiled by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. ^[1]

Rank (2023-24)	Airport	Location	State/territory	Domestic revenue passengers	International revenue passengers	Total revenue passengers
1	Sydney Airport	Sydney	New South Wales	24,720,397	15,847,476	40,567,873
2	Melbourne Airport	Melbourne	Victoria	23,879,584	10,962,676	34,842,260
3	Brisbane Airport	Brisbane	Queensland	16,657,146	5,576,987	22,234,133
4	Perth Airport	Perth	Western Australia	8,456,662	4,330,306	12,786,968
5	Adelaide Airport	Adelaide	South Australia	7,297,551	951,210	8,248,761
6	Gold Coast Airport	Gold Coast	Queensland	5,613,782	708,104	6,321,886
7	Cairns Airport	Cairns	Queensland	4,035,800	598,832	4,634,632
8	Canberra Airport	Canberra	Australian Capital Territory	2,794,200	26,195	2,820,395
9	Hobart Airport	Hobart	Tasmania	2,651,674	25,758	2,677,432
10	Sunshine Coast Airport	Sunshine Coast	Queensland	1,884,990	12,594	1,897,584
11	Darwin Airport	Darwin	Northern Territory	1,593,329	188,352	1,781,681
12	Townsville Airport	Townsville	Queensland	1,671,367	0	1,671,367
13	Launceston Airport	Launceston	Tasmania	1,412,989	0	1,412,989
14	Newcastle Airport	Newcastle	New South Wales	1,201,167	0	1,201,167
15	Mackay Airport	Mackay	Queensland	911,711	0	911,711
16	Rockhampton Airport	Rockhampton	Queensland	656,238	0	656,238
17	Ballina Byron Gateway Airport	Ballina, New South Wales	New South Wales	620,258	0	620,258
18	Karratha Airport	Karratha	Western Australia	578,078	0	578,078
19	Whitsunday Coast Airport	Proserpine	Queensland	506,464	0	506,464
20	Hamilton Island Airport	Hamilton Island	Queensland	489,740	0	489,740
21	Port Hedland International Airport	Port Hedland	Western Australia	479,295	0	479,295
22	Broome International Airport	Broome	Western Australia	439,453	0	439,453
23	Newman Airport	Newman	Western Australia	372,181	0	372,181
24	Alice Springs Airport	Alice Springs	Northern Territory	367,236	0	367,236
25	Kalgoorlie–Boulder Airport	Kalgoorlie	Western Australia	361,876	0	361,876
26	Ayers Rock Airport	Yulara	Northern Territory	283,551	0	283,551
27	Albury Airport	Albury	New South Wales	276,473	0	276,473
28	Paraburdoo Airport	Paraburdoo	Western Australia	263,370	0	263,370
29	Coffs Harbour Airport	Coffs Harbour	New South Wales	263,141	0	263,141
30	Gladstone Airport	Gladstone	Queensland	240,229	0	240,229
31	Mount Isa Airport	Mount Isa	Queensland	232,297	0	232,297
32	Mildura Airport	Mildura	Victoria	231,854	0	231,854
33	Port Macquarie Airport	Port Macquarie	New South Wales	226,932	0	226,932
34	Wagga Wagga Airport	Wagga Wagga	New South Wales	201,614	0	201,614
35	Emerald Airport	Emerald	Queensland	195,908	0	195,908
36	Dubbo Airport	Dubbo	New South Wales	195,095	0	195,095
37	Tamworth Airport	Tamworth	New South Wales	172,980	0	172,980
38	Port Lincoln Airport	Port Lincoln	South Australia	171,635	0	171,635
39	Bundaberg Airport	Bundaberg	Queensland	165,224	0	165,224
40	Hervey Bay Airport	Hervey Bay	Queensland	154,744	0	154,744
41	Devonport Airport	Devonport	Tasmania	121,562	0	121,562
42	Moranbah Airport	Moranbah	Queensland	111,076	0	111,076
43	Horn Island Airport	Thursday Island [a]	Queensland	110,267	0	110,267
44	Geraldton Airport	Geraldton	Western Australia	109,887	0	109,887
45	Armidale Airport	Armidale	New South Wales	105,691	0	105,691
46	Olympic Dam Airport	Olympic Dam	South Australia	103,589	0	103,589
47	Learmonth Airport	Exmouth	Western Australia	103,108	0	103,108
48	Orange Airport	Orange	New South Wales	99,332	0	99,332
49	East Kimberley Regional Airport	Kununurra	Western Australia	98,605	0	98,605
50	Weipa Airport	Weipa	Queensland	89,971	0	89,971

Note: data not available for Avalon Airport; regular public transport operations only.

Top 10 airports by passenger movements

This is a list of the busiest airports in Australia by passenger movements (both inbound and outbound) compiled by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. ^[2]

Rank	Airport	Location	IATA	1985–86	1990–91	1995–96	2000–01	2005–06	2010–11	2015–16	2016–17	2017–18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
1	Sydney Airport	Sydney, New South Wales	SYD	9,498,000	12,361,000	19,878,000	25,814,000	28,996,000	35,958,000	41,105,000	42,614,000	44,035,000	44,376,000	32,195,000	7,804,000	13,670,000
2	Melbourne Airport	Melbourne, Victoria	MEL	6,476,000	8,346,000	12,972,000	16,881,000	21,041,000	27,963,000	33,705,000	34,878,000	36,319,000	37,057,000	27,003,000	6,106,000	12,817,000
3	Brisbane Airport	Brisbane, Queensland	BNE	3,457,000	5,246,000	9,236,000	12,467,000	16,016,000	19,975,000	22,320,000	22,653,000	23,238,000	23,623,000	17,805,000	7,530,000	10,023,000
4	Perth Airport	Perth, Western Australia	PER	1,939,000	2,508,000	4,145,000	5,162,000	7,005,000	10,890,000	12,558,000	12,453,000	12,433,000	12,406,000	9,346,000	3,262,000	4,757,000
5	Adelaide Airport	Adelaide, South Australia	ADL	2,082,000	2,461,000	3,743,000	4,443,000	5,767,000	7,279,000	7,778,000	7,999,000	8,274,000	8,368,000	6,246,000	2,751,000	3,821,000
6	Gold Coast Airport	Gold Coast, Queensland	OOL	778,000	1,090,000	1,993,000	1,888,000	3,515,000	5,486,000	6,273,000	6,457,000	6,541,000	6,414,000	4,779,000	2,002,000	2,996,000
7	Cairns Airport	Cairns, Queensland	CNS	578,000	1,288,000	2,595,000	2,891,000	3,731,000	3,859,000	4,711,000	4,898,000	4,969,000	4,859,000	3,472,000	2,082,000	2,625,000
8	Hobart Airport	Hobart, Tasmania	HBA	506,000	590,000	850,000	974,000	1,606,000	1,903,000	2,313,000	2,441,000	2,596,000	2,726,000	2,074,000	1,037,000	1,506,000
9	Canberra Airport	Canberra, Australian Capital Territory	CBR	1,008,000	1,124,000	1,750,000	2,107,000	2,550,000	3,241,000	2,831,000	3,013,000	3,179,000	3,218,000	2,350,000	1,045,000	1,286,000
10	Townsville Airport	Townsville, Queensland	TSV	1,030,000	512,000	598,000	732,000	1,161,000	1,630,000	1,530,000	1,535,000	1,627,000	1,594,000	1,216,000	976,000	1,195,000

Note: Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Darwin Airport ranked 10.

Top 10 airports by aircraft movements

This is a list of the busiest airports in Australia by aircraft movements compiled by Airservices Australia, ^[3] this list includes regular public transport operations and private operations.

Rank	Airport	Location	IATA	2000	2005	2010	2015	2020
1	Parafield Airport	Adelaide, South Australia	N/A	158,268	177,432	228,290	235,384	272,646
2	Moorabbin Airport	Melbourne, Victoria	MBW	256,644	264,734	252,218	242,542	268,054
3	Sydney Airport	Sydney, New South Wales	SYD	308,342	281,738	304,938	336,956	267,862
4	Archerfield Airport	Brisbane, Queensland	N/A	182,682	141,466	118,354	133,872	196,708
5	Bankstown Airport	Sydney, New South Wales	BWU	298,798	275,846	275,978	220,166	235,048
6	Jandakot Airport	Perth, Western Australia	JAD	265,700	372,300	295,516	222,874	226,932
7	Melbourne Airport	Melbourne, Victoria	MEL	174,462	180,278	205,202	235,314	188,560
8	Brisbane Airport	Brisbane, Queensland	BNE	169,198	164,538	187,956	220,154	173,426
9	Perth Airport	Perth, Western Australia	PER	103,198	101,648	124,640	138,728	118,466
10	Adelaide Airport	Adelaide, South Australia	ADL	112,554	106,840	101,560	106,630	87,482

Notes

1. Thursday Island is listed as the name in the dataset, however, the airport is located on Horn Island, about 8km from Thursday Island.

References

1. "Airport Traffic Data 1985–86 to 2023–24—XLSX". Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). 3 February 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
2. "Airport Traffic Data" (XLS). Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics. 2022. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
3. "Movements at Australian airports". Airservices Australia. 27 January 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.