Growth on the horizon for Perth Airport

Perth Airport had a bumper year in financial year 2025, with more growth on the horizon, in passengers and services as the airport’s redevelopment is well under way.

The airport recorded its highest ever passenger numbers, with 17.48 million passengers using the airport in FY25 — up 8.5 per cent on the 16.1 million passengers the previous year.

Growth was fuelled by rising international passenger numbers, with 5.14 million international passengers, up 18.3 per cent from 4.35 million in FY24. Regional traffic climbed 3.7 per cent to 6.24 million.

“Based on these numbers, we are confident that there is great potential for further growth in passenger numbers and we look forward to working with new and current airline partners to seize this opportunity,” chief commercial and aviation officer Kate Holsgrove says.

Over the last year, airlines including Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Air New Zealand and South African Airways have added further capacity, while Qantas launched Paris services, Jetstar added more international connections, and Thai Airways returned.

Services at the airport have recently been bolstered with the launch of Virgin Australia’s flights to Doha, operated by partner Qatar Airways. TransNusa recently added a second daily service linking Perth with Denpasar after its launch on the route with a daily service in March. Scoot, meanwhile, increased services between Perth and Singapore from 12 to 14 weekly in early August.

More is to come. Cathay Pacific will operate double daily services linking Perth with Hong Kong from October as the airline celebrates 55 years of operating at Perth Airport. China Southern Airlines will resume its seasonal services between Perth and Guangzhou in November, initially planning three times weekly services through to March 2026, although the airport is keen to see this increase. Jetstar will add Manila to its international network in November, while Qantas will join South African Airways on the Johannesburg route from December. Domestically, in September Qantas is adding services to Newcastle and Hobart.

However, Emirates is dropping its early morning Perth-Dubai flight from late October, focusing on its daily Airbus A380 late night departure from Perth, with Perth passengers set to experience the airline’s Premium Economy product on the A380 from late October for the first time.

In the meantime, Perth Airport has made no secret of the fact it is continuing to target India, China and South Korea as priority markets for the future.

Qantas is looking to further build its western gateway.

“We are really pleased with what we’ve seen so far and there are more opportunities — anything going westbound. We can leverage our network proposition and the unique geography of Perth to drive connectivity and utilise the fleet to really grow,” Scott Zeglin, the airline’s head of commercial strategy and performance said earlier this year on a visit to Perth.

As passenger throughput continues to increase, work is under way on the airport’s $5 billion redevelopment, designed to allow it to cope with future growth.

“Over the next decade we will deliver an expanded international terminal, new terminal facilities for Qantas and Jetstar flights, a parallel runway, with associated aprons and taxiways, two multistorey carparks, along with significant access road upgrades, and our first airport hotel,” Perth Airport CEO Jason Waters says.

“This will deliver on the long-held vision for One Airport which will create greater efficiency for airlines, a better travel experience for passengers and major economic benefits for Western Australia,” he explains.

The first of two multistorey carparks is already under development; work is under way at Terminal 2 to add more departure gates and seating; retail and food and beverage offerings are being upgraded at Terminal 1 International; and preliminary work has started on the new parallel runway. The airport has partnered hotel operator Accor to operate the first hotel on the airport estate under the Pullman Hotels and Resorts brand.

It will be a “smart terminal”, making extensive use of technology to improve the customer experience and operational efficiency, as well as sustainable in design, aiming for a 5-star Green Rating.