Melbourne Airport
MEL · 20 monitored domestic routes · data from Jan 1985
Airport traffic: to Apr 2026
Melbourne handled 2,997,205 passenger movements in Apr 2026, the 2nd busiest of the 22 monitored airports. International services account for 32% of its traffic. Traffic has returned to roughly its 2019 level. Across its 15 monitored routes, 2.5% of flights were cancelled — 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 Melbourne
| Route | Passengers | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Melbourne ↔ Sydney | 621,564 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Brisbane | 287,002 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Adelaide | 182,050 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Gold Coast | 149,920 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Perth | 148,647 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Hobart | 111,578 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Canberra | 71,267 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Cairns | 70,968 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Launceston | 65,713 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Sunshine Coast | 56,025 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Newcastle | 35,010 | Jun 2026 |
| Melbourne ↔ Darwin | 31,119 | Jun 2026 |
Route passengers are a different measure from airport movements above — one trip, not two.
Punctuality on Melbourne routes
Across all 15 monitored routes touching this airport, 2.5% of scheduled flights were cancelled over the 12 months to Jul 2026 — against a national average of 2.1%.
| Route | Cancelled | On time | Flights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melbourne ↔ Sydney | 4.1% | 77.4% | 50,235 |
| Melbourne ↔ Devonport | 3.9% | 76.1% | 3,096 |
| Melbourne ↔ Canberra | 3.3% | 76.7% | 8,865 |
| Melbourne ↔ Launceston | 2.8% | 68.7% | 7,232 |
| Melbourne ↔ Mildura | 2.6% | 71.6% | 4,345 |
| Melbourne ↔ Brisbane | 2.5% | 74.7% | 24,475 |
| Melbourne ↔ Adelaide | 1.3% | 76.8% | 16,358 |
| Melbourne ↔ Gold Coast | 1.1% | 72.2% | 12,623 |
| Melbourne ↔ Newcastle | 1.1% | 77.1% | 3,610 |
| Melbourne ↔ Perth | 1.0% | 77.3% | 12,723 |
| Melbourne ↔ Hobart | 0.8% | 70.9% | 9,812 |
| Melbourne ↔ Cairns | 0.7% | 73.7% | 4,450 |
| Melbourne ↔ Darwin | 0.6% | 71.5% | 1,994 |
| Melbourne ↔ Sunshine Coast | 0.3% | 70.2% | 4,676 |
| Melbourne ↔ Ayers Rock | 0.1% | 81.1% | 767 |
Punctuality: 12 months to Jul 2026
Melbourne in numbers
| Busiest month on record | 3,401,332 · Dec 2025 |
| National ranking, 2025 | 2nd busiest |
| Busiest year on record | 37,134,291 · 2019 |
| Data coverage | Jan 1985 – Apr 2026 (496 months) |
| Domestic share, Apr 2026 | 67.8% |
| 2019 monthly average | 3,094,524 |