newy.com.au – Newcastle Airport has recorded its busiest year, handling more than 1.3 million passengers as new services to Bali, Perth and Hobart drove strong growth.
The airport recorded 1,300,775 passenger movements in the 2025-26 financial year, a 10 per cent increase on the previous year and the first time its annual figure has passed 1.3 million.
The three new routes contributed more than 94,000 additional passenger movements during the year, according to the airport, accounting for much of the overall increase.
Newcastle Airport chair Samantha Martin-Williams said the figures showed strong local demand for more direct flights.
“This record result demonstrates our region’s strong appetite for greater connectivity, with our newly introduced services to Bali, Perth and Hobart continuing to perform exceptionally well,” she said.
The growth continued into the new financial year, with 112,689 passengers using the airport in July. It was the airport’s busiest July, surpassing the previous record set in 2017.
The record follows the start of flights from Newcastle’s international terminal and the airport’s recent recognition as Australia’s Airport of the Year. Airport management argues that additional direct flights can attract more visitors to the Hunter while giving residents and businesses greater access to domestic and overseas markets.
Chief executive Linc Horton said Fiji and Auckland were the airport’s next priorities, although services to those destinations have not been confirmed.
“Our immediate route aspirations include Fiji and Auckland, however we are actively pursuing a number of additional destinations as part of our long-term connectivity strategy for the region,” Mr Horton said.
The airport said community support for the new routes would be used to make the case to airlines for more services. Any expansion will depend on carriers allocating aircraft and capacity to Newcastle.
