The Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price has edged lower on Thursday after the release of its latest traffic figures.
In late morning trade the airport operator's shares are down almost 0.5% to $7.38.
How did Sydney Airport perform in March?
During the month of March Sydney Airport experienced a decline in both domestic and international passenger numbers largely due to the timing of both Easter and the Lunar New Year.
Domestic passengers fell 3.4% on the prior corresponding period to 2,333,000 and international passenger numbers dropped 3.8% to 1,319,000. The biggest drag on the latter was China, with passengers travelling to and from China fallig 12.7% on the prior corresponding period.
Combined, total passengers came in at 3,652,000, which was a decline of 3.5% compared to March 2018.
Year to date this leaves passenger numbers down 1% on the prior corresponding period at 11,007,000.
Sydney Airport's CEO, Geoff Culbert, explained: "International and Domestic passenger numbers declined 3.8% and 3.4% respectively on the prior corresponding period. As expected, International passenger numbers were impacted by a shift in timing of both Easter and Lunar New Year driving decreases in both seat capacity and load factors. However, strong load factors on North American routes helped boost US traveller growth to 11%."
He added: "Domestically, the trends for March were similar to the year to date, where a decrease in frequencies, aircraft downgauging and subdued load factors drove a reduction in domestic passengers for the month."
Should you invest?
Whilst this wasn't the strongest update from Sydney Airport, I still believe it is a great option for income investors in this low interest rate environment. Especially given that its shares offer a trailing 5.1% dividend at present.
Overall, I would class it as a buy along with fellow tourism shares Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB).
