Sydney landed the two busiest domestic routes in Australia in December 2024 according to the latest ACCC Domestic Airline Competition report.

The highest passenger levels were recorded on the Melbourne to Sydney route at 619,379 (up 3.5 per cent year on year), representing 12.4 per cent of all domestic passengers.

The second highest passenger levels were recorded on the Brisbane to Sydney route at 368,574 (up 1.4 per cent year on year).

Domestic airlines carried five million domestic passengers in December 2024. This was 3.5 per cent higher than December 2023 levels and three per cent below December 2019 levels.

December 2024 was a record month for Virgin Australia, with passenger numbers across its domestic and international network exceeding any December in its 24-year history. Jetstar also reported one of its highest numbers of monthly domestic passengers in 2024.

Compared to December 2023, the number of domestic passengers flown by Virgin Australia in December 2024 increased by 15.8 per cent, while Jetstar’s passengers grew by 11.2 per cent. The number of passengers flown by Qantas increased by 3.2 per cent over the same period.

“Despite some airlines increasing their seating capacity throughout the year, this was outstripped by the growth in passenger numbers, leading to fuller flights,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.

The report found that flights were fuller than they have been for some time. In November 2024, flights on services between metropolitan cities were 90.4 per cent full. This was the highest rate recorded since at least January 2019, the earliest month for which the ACCC has data.

It compares to an average load factor of 82.9 per cent during 2024.

Seat capacity increased in the 12 months to December 2024, mostly through increases from Virgin Australia (13.1 per cent) and Jetstar (9 per cent).

Load factors on major city routes were particularly high in November 2024, at 90.4 per cent. This compares to the 12-month average of 82.9 per cent.

The highest load factors were experienced by Virgin Australia, at 93.4%.

Despite the loss of capacity following Rex’s termination of its major city route services in July 2024, passenger volumes were higher between October and December 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Some airlines increased seat capacity in December to keep up with the increased demand for leisure travel over the Christmas period which brought capacity levels in line with December 2023.

The airlines flew 6.1 million seats in December 2024, representing an increase of around 33,000 seats (or 0.5 per cent) from December 2023 and 323,000 seats less (five per cent) than December 2019.

Airfares stabilise following a peak over October and November

Average airfares across all fare types stabilised in December 2024 and were three per cent lower than what they were in December 2023. The fall in average revenue per passenger in December was more pronounced on major city routes (-4.4 per cent) than regional (-0.4 per cent) and remote (-2.3 per cent) routes.

“Travellers had some relief from high airfares in December, after school holidays and other factors pushed up the average price of domestic travel in October and November,” Ms Brakey said.

“The reduction in airfares is likely to have primarily benefitted business travellers, as high demand for leisure travel over the Christmas period often leads to a spike in the price of ‘best discount’ tickets.”

View the full report here.