The long-term narrative that there’s no space left for new domestic or international carriers at Sydney Airport is a fallacy, according to slot manager ACL Asia Pacific (ACL).
ACL Chief Executive Neil Garwood says there’s significant take-off and landing slot availability except for weekday morning and evening peaks – 7am to 10am and 6pm to 7pm – when aircraft slot utilisation exceeds 95%.
Outside these times, he says ACL data reveals weekday slot utilisation averages just 67%, giving carriers the opportunity to launch new flights provided they can make their schedules work.
“We are already seeing increased demand from international carriers in particular and there is ample scope for further growth,” Mr Garwood says.
In its draft 2045 Masterplan[i], Sydney Airport predicts international passenger numbers will grow 123% to 36.4 million in the next 20 years, overtaking domestic passenger traffic[ii] and require ‘peak-spreading’ – the growth of shoulder and off-peak aircraft movements.
At present airline demand for Sydney Airport slots is lowest in the middle of the day and late in the evening when utilisation averages 45%.
“Larger, quieter and more fuel-efficient aircraft will mean that passenger numbers are forecast to grow at a faster rate than aircraft movements, delivering positive economic outcomes while reducing community and environmental impacts,” the masterplan says.
“The average number of passengers per flight is also expected to increase from 134 to 170 on domestic services and from 210 to 284 on international services.”
This analysis assumes that passenger demand grows faster than the general economy, “with competitive airfares, low-cost carriers (LCCs) and changes to air rights increasing the number of leisure passengers.”
It also anticipates strong economic growth in Asian and Middle Eastern markets encouraging airlines to use larger aircraft and increase their services to Sydney Airport.
Mr Garwood says 91% of all slot requests were granted to airlines at the time they asked for in the Initial Slot Coordination Report for the Northern Summer 2026 period, which starts in late March and runs to the end of October.
“At Sydney about 70% of the available slots have been taken for the Northern Summer season, so there is plenty of available capacity.”
Aircraft movements at Sydney Airport, which operates flights between 6am to 11pm, are capped at a maximum of 80 per hour.
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