The Sydney Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (ASX: SYD) share price has edged higher this morning following the release of the airport operator's latest traffic update.
At the time of writing the Sydney Airport share price is up 0.5% to $8.19.
What was in Sydney Airport's update?
According to the release, during the month of August the airport saw a 0.1% reduction in the number of total passengers passing through its gates to 3,671,000.
During the month 2,297,000 domestic passengers travelled through Sydney Airport, which was down by 1.3% on the prior corresponding period. Year to date domestic passenger numbers are also down 1.3%.
This offset a 2% increase in international passenger numbers to 1,374,000 in August, which helped lift its year to date international passenger growth to 1.4%.
This means that calendar year to date Sydney Airport has welcome 29,120,000 passengers through its terminals, which is a 0.3% decline on the prior corresponding period.
Sydney Airport's chief executive officer, Geoff Culbert, was pleased with the rebound in international passenger numbers.
He said: "It was good to see international passengers bounce back this month – they were up 2.0 percent on August 2018, and 1.4 percent year to date. Our international performance helped offset the continued weakness in domestic passenger growth, which was down 1.3 percent on both the same month last year, and for the year to date."
"Arrivals from the USA continue to be a highlight with double-digit growth year to date – this reflects good load factors on US routes and the continued attractiveness of Sydney to US travellers. It was another strong month for passengers from India, which were up 14.5 percent on August 2018, and 8.1 percent year to date. We believe there is plenty of upside to come from the Indian market, with currently only a single direct service catering to a population of more than 1.3 billion," he added.
