Melb Airport lifts numbers in Jan

MELBOURNE Airport says passenger numbers increased five per cent at Tullamarine in January.

The airport said it handled 2.6 million passengers in the first month of 2013, up five per cent from compared with January, 2012.

Domestic travellers through Tullamarine rose 6.1 per cent to 1.9 million, while international passengers rose 1.8 per cent to 679,429, Melbourne Airport said in a statement on Wednesday.

Growth at Melbourne came in ahead of Sydney Airport, which reported total passenger growth of 3.8 per cent to 3.3 million in the month.

Sydney's Kingsford Smith said domestic passengers rose 4.9 per cent to 2.1 million, while international passengers rose 1.9 per cent to 1.2 million.

Sydney Airport chief executive Kerrie Mather said growth in international passengers in January was impacted by Chinese New Year falling later in 2013, compared with 2012.

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