Sydney Airport Sees Surge in British, Chinese, and Indonesian Travellers

Overall, 10.68 million passengers arrived in the year to third quarter of 2025.

Planes can be seen on the tarmac and parked at the Sydney International Airport terminal in Sydney, Australia on Aug. 21, 2025. David Gray/AFP via Getty Images

Sydney Airport has seen an increase in British, Indonesia, and Chinese arrivals from July to September, according to the latest figures from Australia’s busiest airport.

There was a 26.1 percent increase in the volume of British travellers to Sydney, followed by Indonesia (12.9 percent), and China (11.6 percent).

The top 10 nationalities in descending order by overall volume was Australian, Chinese, New Zealand, American, South Korean, U.K., India, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Overall, 10.68 million passengers arrived in the year to third quarter of 2025, up 3.4 percent overall (pdf).

“Chinese passport holders recorded 11.6 percent growth on Q3 2024, the strongest quarterly rate of growth over the past year,” Sydney Airport Corporation said in a statement.

“Arrivals by British passport holders increased 26.1 percent, while Indonesia and Japan grew 12.9 percent and 7.2 percent respectively,” the group said.

“The growth in British arrivals reflected the impact of the British and Irish Lions rugby tour and additional capacity through the Middle East and Europe, supported by new and expanded airline partnerships.”

Also, China Southern Airlines has boosted its services to four per day in the 2025 to 2026 summer peak, adding 44,000 seats.

“Q3 was another quarter of steady growth, supported by inbound demand from key markets including the United Kingdom, China, and Indonesia,” said Sydney Airport CEO Scott Charlton.

“The recovery in these markets, combined with the continued return of airline capacity, reflects the strength of Sydney’s position as Australia’s international gateway.”

99 Percent of Travellers Cleared in 10 Minutes

Sydney Airport also touted its security performance, with 99.9 percent of domestic travellers and 99.1 percent of internationals making it through security in less than 10 minutes.

Immigration lines were also quicker in the third quarter of 2025, with 90 percent of arrivals passing through within 35 minutes, 16.7 percent better than the same quarter in 2024.

“Security processing times have also shown consistent gains over the past two years, improving by 27 percent since Q3 2023, even as passenger volumes have risen by 6.5 percent,” Sydney Airport said.

“These results demonstrate sustained efficiency improvements despite higher passenger numbers and major construction activity across the precinct.”

Laptops, Aerosols Will Not Need to be Removed During Security Checks

Sydney Airport is also implementing more security lanes with CT scanner technology at its T1 international terminal. Eleven of the fifteen security lanes now feature this updated technology.

“Once complete, the upgrade will boost screening capacity by nearly 30 percent and allow passengers to keep laptops, liquids, and aerosols in their carry-on bags,” Sydney airport said.

“Works are advancing on new self-service check-in kiosks and bag drop systems that will streamline the journey from kerb to gate to as little as fifteen minutes once complete.”

In September, the New South Wales Minns government announced a trial fixed fares.

This is set to begin from Nov. 3 and will run over a two-year period, which will see trips from the airport to the city capped at $60 for normal taxis and $80 for maxi taxis.

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show 753,320 short term visitor arrivals in August 2025, up 14.3 percent on the previous year.

Total arrivals increased 9.3 percent to more than 1.81 million, while departures also rose 8.3 percent to 1.83 million.