Canberra Airport
CBR · 5 monitored domestic routes · data from Jan 1985
Airport traffic: to Apr 2026
Canberra handled 218,726 passenger movements in Apr 2026, the 9th busiest of the 22 monitored airports. It is almost entirely a domestic airport — international services are 1.1% of movements. Traffic is still 20% below its 2019 average. Across its 5 monitored routes, 3.4% of flights were cancelled — well above the national average.
A passenger movement is not the same as a passenger. Every domestic passenger is counted twice — once departing, once arriving — while an international passenger is counted once. That is the official definition, and it is why these totals cannot be added to the route figures elsewhere on this site.
Passenger movements, 1985 to 2026
To Apr 2026 · Marks show industry events
Aircraft movements
To Apr 2026
Busiest routes from Canberra
| Route | Passengers | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Canberra ↔ Melbourne | 71,267 | Jun 2026 |
| Canberra ↔ Brisbane | 54,812 | Jun 2026 |
| Canberra ↔ Sydney | 44,518 | Jun 2026 |
| Canberra ↔ Adelaide | 15,089 | Jun 2026 |
| Canberra ↔ Gold Coast | 14,215 | Jun 2026 |
Route passengers are a different measure from airport movements above — one trip, not two.
Punctuality on Canberra routes
Across all 5 monitored routes touching this airport, 3.4% of scheduled flights were cancelled over the 12 months to Jul 2026 — against a national average of 2.1%.
| Route | Cancelled | On time | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra ↔ Sydney | 5.1% | 79.8% | 14,738 |
| Canberra ↔ Melbourne | 3.3% | 76.7% | 8,865 |
| Canberra ↔ Adelaide | 1.6% | 86.8% | 2,753 |
| Canberra ↔ Brisbane | 1.0% | 81.0% | 7,007 |
| Canberra ↔ Gold Coast | 0.0% | 80.9% | 1,097 |
Punctuality: 12 months to Jul 2026
Canberra in numbers
| Busiest month on record | 317,902 · Mar 2010 |
| National ranking, 2025 | 9th busiest |
| Busiest year on record | 3,304,010 · 2010 |
| Data coverage | Jan 1985 – Apr 2026 (496 months) |
| Domestic share, Apr 2026 | 98.9% |
| 2019 monthly average | 269,843 |