TRANSPORT ACTIVITY

Domestic airline activity

The total hours flown and the number of aircraft departures by the major domestic and regional airlines are shown in graph 24.6. In 2006 there were 801 hours flown, while aircraft departures totalled 526.

In addition to domestic and regional scheduled services, activities undertaken by the general aviation industry include business flying, aerial agriculture, charter, training and private flying (graph 24.7). Charter, flying training and private/business activity accounted for 76% of general aviation hours flown in 2005.

Road transport activity

Motor vehicles travelled an estimated total distance of 206,383 million kilometres (km) in the year ended 31 October 2005, at an average of 15,500 km per vehicle (table 24.8). Business use accounted for an estimated 33% of aggregate distance travelled, and private use 67%. Of total private use travel, 35% consisted of travel to and from work, and 65% for personal and other use travel.

24.8 BUSINESS AND PRIVATE VEHICLE USE - Year ended 31 October 2005
	Business			Private
Type of vehicle	Laden	Unladen	Total(a)	To and from work	Personal and other use	Total
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED (mill. km)
Passenger vehicles	. .	. .	31 039	42 542	81 488	155 068
Motor cycles	. .	. .	*194	*356	879	1 429
Light commercial vehicles	15 537	6 301	21 838	5 417	6 508	33 764
Rigid trucks	5 169	2 213	7 382	*183	*106	7 671
Articulated trucks	4 777	1 522	6 299	*7	*2	6 308
Non-freight carrying trucks	. .	. .	*283	**3	. .	*286
Buses	. .	. .	1 783	*28	*45	1 856
Total	25 483	10 037	68 819	48 536	89 029	206 383
AVERAGE DISTANCE TRAVELLED (‘000 km)(b)
Passenger vehicles	. .	. .	9.7	7.7	8.6	14.6
Motor cycles	. .	. .	*3.7	*3.3	3.0	4.1
Light commercial vehicles	13.5	8.2	17.7	8.3	6.7	17.8
Rigid trucks	16.8	9.2	23.7	*5.6	*3.6	23.0
Articulated trucks	75.9	29.3	99.1	*4.5	*2.0	97.9
Non-freight carrying trucks	. .	. .	15.2	**6.3	*0.9	15.2
Buses	. .	. .	31.5	*6.3	*7.3	30.4
All vehicles	16.8	9.5	13.9	7.6	8.3	15.5
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
. . not applicable
(a) Includes business travel of non-freight carrying vehicles.
(b) Average distance travelled for registered vehicles which were used.
Source: Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia (9208.0).

The localities in which motor vehicles travelled are described in table 24.9. Only 5.0% of total distance travelled represented interstate trips, while 53% of trips were within the capital city of the state or territory in which the vehicle was registered.

24.9 LOCATION OF VEHICLE OPERATION - Year ended 31 October 2005
	Within state/territory of registration
Type of vehicle	Capital city	Provincial urban	Other areas of state/territory	Total	Interstate	Total
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED (mill. km)
Passenger vehicles	85 400	28 438	33 796	147 635	*7 433	155 068
Motor cycles	*649	*231	*458	1 338	*92	1 429
Light commercial vehicles	16 718	5 567	10 685	32 970	*794	33 764
Rigid trucks	3 914	1 316	2 161	7 391	*280	7 671
Articulated trucks	1 078	448	3 038	4 565	1 744	6 308
Non-freight carrying trucks	*131	*58	*93	*281	**5	*286
Buses	910	*378	*502	1 790	*66	1 856
Total	108 801	36 435	50 733	195 969	*10 414	206 383
AVERAGE DISTANCE TRAVELLED (’000 km)(a)
Passenger vehicles	11.2	8.1	10.1	14.0	*8.3	14.6
Motor cycles	*3.6	*2.3	*3.5	3.9	*4.2	4.1
Light commercial vehicles	16.2	10.9	14.3	17.5	*7.8	17.8
Rigid trucks	23.0	15.9	15.5	22.3	*14.5	23.0
Articulated trucks	31.0	24.8	67.6	72.7	85.6	97.9
Non-freight carrying trucks	*15.1	*15.0	*11.1	15.1	**14.5	15.2
Buses	27.3	*24.7	22.4	29.6	*17.8	30.4
All vehicles	11.9	8.6	11.4	14.8	9.8	15.5
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
(a) Average distance travelled for registered vehicles which were used.
Source: Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia (9208.0).

Transport passenger activity

Personal travel occurs for many reasons, including school, business, recreation and travel to and from work. While road transport accounts for the majority of domestic passenger trips undertaken, rail services are used by a considerable number of urban commuters. Air services provide for a large proportion of long distance passenger travel.

Road passenger vehicle activity

In the year ended 31 October 2005 Australia's 11 million (mill.) registered passenger vehicles travelled an estimated 155 billion km (table 24.10), each averaging 14,100 km per year. Just over 421,500 motor cycles travelled 1.4 billion km, while the fleet of just over 62,000 buses travelled 1.9 billion km.

24.10 MOTOR VEHICLE USE, By state/territory of registration - 2005(a)
	Passenger vehicles	Motor cycles	Buses
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELLED (mill. km)
New South Wales	48 662	*337	541
Victoria	40 398	*401	*406
Queensland	31 457	*362	*416
South Australia	10 948	*92	131
Western Australia	16 263	*157	*224
Tasmania	3 767	*27	42
Northern Territory	923	*18	*65
Australian Capital Territory	2 651	*35	*30
Australia	155 068	1 429	1 856
NUMBER OF VEHICLES(b)
New South Wales	3 357 074	114 019	17 534
Victoria	2 980 353	107 613	13 146
Queensland	2 063 409	97 551	14 161
South Australia	903 868	29 625	3 902
Western Australia	1 178 643	53 033	8 194
Tasmania	267 501	9 216	1 959
Northern Territory	71 801	3 436	2 561
Australian Capital Territory	187 857	7 055	893
Australia	11 010 506	421 549	62 350
* estimate has a relative standard error of 25% to 50% and should be used with caution
(a) Year ended 31 October 2005.
(b) The average number of vehicles registered for the 12 months. Includes registered vehicles that did not travel during the year.
Source: Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia (9208.0).

Rail passenger activity

The passenger operations of rail operators are shown in table 24.11. Between 2003-04 and 2004-05 urban heavy rail and tram/light rail passenger numbers increased by 0.4% and 4.0% respectively, while non-urban passenger numbers were unchanged. Heavy rail accounted for 79% of urban rail passenger operations in 2004-05.

24.11 RAIL PASSENGER OPERATIONS
	Urban
	Heavy rail	Tram and light rail	Total	Non-urban	Total
	mill. passengers	mill. passengers	mill. passengers	mill. passengers	mill. passengers
2003-04	476	125	601	9	610
2004-05	478	130	607	9	616
Source: Australasian Railway Association Inc.

Domestic air passenger activity

At 30 June 2006 three major domestic airlines operated in Australia - Qantas, Virgin Blue and Jetstar. Regional airlines provided connecting services to the regional airports. There are 256 regulated airports in Australia and its external territories.

Passenger departures were 7.2% higher in 2006, compared with 2005 (table 24.12), while the percentage of vacant seat-kilometres was steady at 21%. In 2006 domestic airlines accounted for 88% of total Australian domestic passenger departures, and regional airlines 12%.

24.12 DOMESTIC AIRLINE ACTIVITY(a)
			2005	2006
Passenger departures(b)
	Domestic airlines	'000	35 895	38 424
	Regional airlines	'000	4 854	5 250
	Total	'000	40 749	43 674
Other activity (domestic airlines only)
	Passenger-kilometres performed(c)	mill.	43 339	46 933
	Seat-kilometres available(d)	mill.	55 059	59 388
	Percentage of vacant seat-kilometres	%	21.3	21.0
(a) Includes estimates for regional airlines data.
(b) The unit of measurement is traffic on board (which includes transit traffic). Includes revenue passengers only.
(c) The sum for all flights of the number of passengers on each flight multiplied by the distance travelled.
(d) The sum for all flights of the number of seats on a flight multiplied by distance travelled.
Source: Department of Transport and Regional Services.

The number of domestic passengers boarding airlines at the principal airports in Australia is shown in table 24.13. In 2006 all principal airports recorded increases in passenger movements compared with 2005. The strongest growth was recorded in Perth and Townsville (both 14%), followed by Launceston (9%). The lowest growth was recorded in Canberra (3%) and Hobart (1%).

24.13 DOMESTIC PASSENGER MOVEMENTS(a)
	2005	2006
Principal airport	'000	'000
Sydney	(b)18 940	20 119
Melbourne	16 505	17 277
Brisbane	12 103	12 943
Adelaide	(b)5 262	5 592
Perth	4 755	5 430
Canberra	2 525	2 613
Hobart	1 600	1 618
Darwin	(b)1 111	1 186
Cairns	2 843	2 967
Coolangatta	3 243	3 423
Townsville	1 151	1 308
Launceston	887	963
(a) The number of passengers on board arriving at or departing from each airport. Includes passengers in transit, who are counted as both arrivals and departures at airports through which they transit.
(b) Includes estimates for unreported data.
Source: Department of Transport and Regional Services.

International air passenger activity

Passengers arriving or departing Australia primarily travel by air.

Of total international passengers (21.5 million) carried to and from Australia in 2006, 4.9 million travelled between Australia and New Zealand and 3.7 million travelled between Australia and Singapore (table 24.14).

24.14 SCHEDULED INTERNATIONAL PASSENGER TRAFFIC TO AND FROM AUSTRALIA - 2006
	Inbound	Outbound	Total
Country to/from	'000 passengers	'000 passengers	'000 passengers
Argentina	20.2	19.0	39.2
Austria	89.5	97.0	186.6
Bahrain	51.7	49.3	101.0
Brunei	71.9	70.2	142.1
Canada	53.6	59.5	113.1
Chile	29.9	31.1	61.1
China (excl. SARs & Taiwan)	298.8	273.0	571.8
Cook Islands	0.4	0.5	0.8
Fiji	265.2	265.1	530.3
Germany	44.5	46.0	90.5
Guam	12.0	12.0	24.0
Hong Kong (SAR of China)	894.0	847.7	1 741.7
India	32.3	30.0	62.3
Indonesia	236.3	243.1	479.4
Japan	784.1	785.8	1 569.9
Korea, Republic of (South)	212.5	206.2	418.7
Malaysia	554.1	547.0	1 101.0
Mauritius	27.0	25.1	52.0
Nauru	2.3	2.2	4.5
New Caledonia	63.9	64.0	127.9
New Zealand	2 445.2	2 469.9	4 915.1
Papua New Guinea	76.2	75.8	152.0
Philippines	76.5	69.6	146.1
Singapore	1 902.5	1 788.8	3 691.3
Solomon Islands	14.6	14.6	29.2
South Africa	114.8	104.4	219.1
Tahiti	22.2	23.2	45.4
Taiwan	100.3	100.1	200.4
Thailand	499.7	490.5	990.2
Tonga	10.3	9.9	20.2
United Kingdom	379.8	385.6	765.4
United Arab Emirates	472.6	458.5	931.1
United States of America	833.4	832.2	1 665.6
Vanuatu	46.0	45.2	91.2
Vietnam	80.5	84.8	165.4
Western Samoa	16.9	17.3	34.1
Total	10 835.7	10 644.3	21 480.0
Source: Department of Transport and Regional Services.

Graph 24.15 shows the number of international passengers who travelled through each of Australia's international airports in 2006. Sydney's share of total international passenger traffic was 46%, followed by Melbourne (20%) and Brisbane (18%).

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