Until World War II

Air routes of Australia in 1925

In 1934, Qantas and Britain's Imperial Airways (a forerunner of British Airways) formed a new company, Qantas Empire Airways Limited (QEA),^[4] which commenced operations in December 1934, flying between Brisbane and Darwin. QEA flew internationally from May 1935, when the service from Darwin was extended to Singapore, and Imperial Airways operated the rest of the service through to London.^[5] Australian National Airways (ANA) was established in 1936 by a consortium of British-financed Australian shipowners.

Until World War II, Australia had been one of the world's leading centres of aviation. With its tiny population of about seven million, Australia ranked sixth in the world for scheduled air mileage, had 16 airlines, was growing at twice the world average, and had produced a number of prominent aviation pioneers, including Lawrence Hargrave, Harry Hawker, Bert Hinkler, Lawrence Wackett, the Reverend John Flynn, Sidney Cotton, Keith Virtue and Charles Kingsford Smith. Governments on both sides of politics, well aware of the immense stretches of uninhabitable desert that separated the small productive regions of Australia, regarded air transport as a matter of national importance. In the words of Arthur Brownlow Corbett, Director General of Civil Aviation:

A nation which refuses to use flying in its national life must necessarily today be a backward and defenceless nation.^[6]

Air transport was encouraged both with direct subsidies and with mail contracts. Immediately before the start of the war, more than half of all airline passenger and freight miles were subsidised.

However, after 1939 and especially after Japan's invasion of the islands to the north in 1941, civil aviation was sacrificed to military needs. During the war, most of the Qantas fleet of ten was taken over by the Australian government for war service and enemy action and accidents destroyed half of the fleet.^[7]

Post World War II

By the end of the Second World War, there were only nine domestic airlines remaining, eight smaller regional concerns and Australian National Airways (ANA), a conglomerate owned by British and Australian shipping interests which had a virtual monopoly on the major trunk routes and received 85% of all government air transport subsidies.

The Chifley Government's view was summed up by Minister for Air, Arthur Drakeford: "Where are the great pioneers of aviation? ..... We discover that one by one the small pioneer enterprises are disappearing from the register. It is the inevitable process of absorption by a monopoly." Air transport, the government believed, was primarily a public service, like hospitals, the railways or the post office. If there was to be a monopoly at all, then it should be one owned by the public and working in the public interest.

In August 1945, only two days after the end of World War II, the Australian parliament passed the Australian National Airways Bill, which set up the Australian National Airways Commission (ANAC) and charged it with the task of reconstructing the nation's air transport industry. In keeping with the Labor government's socialist leanings, the bill declared that licences of private operators would lapse for those routes that were adequately serviced by the national carrier. From this time on, it seemed, air transport in Australia would be a government monopoly. However, a legal challenge (Australian National Airways Pty Ltd v Commonwealth), backed by the Liberal opposition and business interests generally, was successful and in December 1945, the High Court ruled that the Commonwealth did not have the power to prevent the issue of airline licences to private companies. The government could set up an airline if it wished, but it could not legislate a monopoly. Much of the press objected strongly to the setting up of a public airline network, seeing it as a form of socialisation by stealth.

The bill was suitably amended to remove the monopoly provisions, and ANAC came into existence in February 1946. ANAC formed Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) in 1946, and nationalised Qantas in 1947. Qantas's domestic operations, in Queensland, were transferred to TAA, while Qantas continued as an international airline. Shortly later, QEA began its first services outside the British Empire, to Tokyo,^[8] and services to Hong Kong began around the same time.

Two Airlines Policy

However, ANA's leadership in Australia's aviation was quickly being eroded by TAA, so in 1952, the Menzies Government formally established the "Two Airlines Policy", to ensure the viability of both major airlines, the government-owned TAA and the privately owned ANA. In reality, it ensured the survival of the private airline ANA.

Under the policy, only two airlines were allowed to operate flights between state capital cities and major regional city airports. The Two Airlines Policy was in fact a legal barrier to new entrants to the Australian aviation market. It restricted intercapital services to the two major domestic carriers. This anti-competitive arrangement ensured that they carried approximately the same number of passengers, charged the same fares and had similar fleet sizes and equipment.

Ivan Holyman, managing director of ANA and its main driving force, died in 1957. The five British shipping companies that owned the airline had been trying to get out for several years, and offered to sell out to the government, in order that ANA merge with TAA and some smaller airlines.^[9] The government declined. Later that year, ANA was acquired by the much smaller Ansett Airways, and the duopoly would continue for the next four decades.

Qantas Airbus A380 taking off at Sydney Airport

Deregulation

Deregulation of aviation in Australia commenced in the late 1980s.

In 1986 Trans-Australia Airlines was renamed Australian Airlines,^[10] which merged in September 1992 with Qantas. Qantas was gradually privatised between 1993 and 1997.^[11][12][13] The legislation allowing privatisation requires Qantas to be at least 51% owned by Australian shareholders.

In 1988, the Australian Government formed the Federal Airports Corporation (FAC), placing 22 airports around the nation under its operational control. In April 1994, the Government announced that all airports operated by FAC would be privatised in several phases.^[14]

Virgin Australia was launched as Virgin Blue in August 2000. The timing of Virgin Blue's entry into the Australian market was fortuitous as it was able to fill the vacuum created by the collapse of Ansett Australia in September 2001. In the following years, Virgin Australia became a challenger to Qantas. Both companies launched low-cost subsidiaries: Qantas formed Jetstar in 2003 and Virgin acquired Tigerair Australia in 2013.

Top 30 routes by annual passenger numbers

Data retrieved from Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities^[15]

Rank	City 1	City 2	Distance (km)	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
1	Melbourne	Sydney	707	7,008,000	7,088,600	7,901,100	7,727,500	8,047,700	8,244,000	8,316,900	8,613,400	8,904,700	9,097,100
2	Brisbane	Sydney	752	4,306,500	4,295,800	4,397,500	4,406,000	4,390,700	4,425,100	4,448,100	4,476,200	4,658,100	4,736,300
3	Brisbane	Melbourne	1379	2,688,500	2,706,200	3,020,200	3,090,400	3,189,600	3,198,800	3,317,100	3,353,800	3,493,300	3,541,100
4	Gold Coast	Sydney	679	2,164,800	2,148,000	2,405,000	2,244,800	2,440,600	2,559,100	2,595,200	2,618,300	2,704,400	2,740,700
5	Adelaide	Melbourne	642	2,122,700	2,103,800	2,271,400	2,186,700	2,085,200	2,195,100	2,272,000	2,311,000	2,393,900	2,456,400
6	Melbourne	Perth	2705	1,772,200	1,724,900	1,736,400	1,855,900	2,130,700	2,290,700	2,160,700	2,138,900	2,072,900	2,033,200
7	Gold Coast	Melbourne	1328	1,673,500	1,615,800	1,767,600	1,671,300	1,790,700	1,675,400	1,754,000	1,812,300	1,966,100	2,012,600
8	Adelaide	Sydney	1167	1,589,100	1,600,200	1,785,700	1,722,700	1,751,200	1,751,900	1,813,000	1,831,500	1,872,000	1,898,300
9	Perth	Sydney	3285	1,493,200	1,465,100	1,622,700	1,731,700	1,811,400	1,800,400	1,798,900	1,760,900	1,753,700	1,716,500
10	Hobart	Melbourne	616	1,157,800	1,202,300	1,231,900	1,157,900	1,239,100	1,388,800	1,400,100	1,493,600	1,555,500	1,630,300
11	Brisbane	Cairns	1387	1,196,500	1,154,800	1,153,800	1,108,000	1,187,000	1,199,600	1,256,100	1,307,000	1,346,900	1,377,900
12	Canberra	Melbourne	470	1,068,500	1,093,800	1,038,000	1,065,200	1,003,100	994,500	972,300	984,200	1,026,100	1,133,000
13	Cairns	Sydney	1967	940,300	832,900	876,800	894,300	933,900	978,600	1,000,900	1,032,600	1,115,300	1,129,300
14	Brisbane	Perth	3615	683,400	718,000	755,100	867,500	951,500	1,017,700	1,062,000	1,007,800	984,100	969,100
15	Brisbane	Townsville	1110	968,700	942,600	941,100	977,400	994,200	957,500	948,200	965,300	976,600	960,200
16	Canberra	Sydney	237	959,500	1,021,800	1,096,200	1,069,100	1,053,200	1,027,600	968,200	946,800	959,400	949,200
17	Launceston	Melbourne	476	842,900	832,800	838,200	790,500	835,800	872,800	878,300	880,500	918,000	923,200
18	Adelaide	Brisbane	1621	660,300	637,000	717,100	679,800	729,200	747,500	776,700	792,800	830,300	849,600
19	Cairns	Melbourne	2305	482,200	389,800	451,100	504,800	581,700	677,600	711,800	770,600	823,400	841,300
20	Brisbane	Mackay	795	727,100	735,900	798,000	908,900	964,900	863,500	746,400	696,400	678,500	697,900
21	Hobart	Sydney	1038	458,700	490,300	502,800	472,800	477,900	517,200	536,400	546,300	616,600	655,900
22	Adelaide	Perth	2120	577,600	626,000	599,000	592,500	621,700	624,300	616,400	611,000	617,100	614,100
23	Brisbane	Canberra	954	609,500	604,500	612,700	620,500	605,400	583,000	560,200	558,200	576,100	594,300
24	Brisbane	Newcastle	613	529,300	564,300	579,100	582,200	591,800	583,700	570,300	543,700	574,000	590,700
25	Sunshine Coast	Sydney	835	477,600	446,700	460,300	475,100	463,300	464,600	464,100	481,800	539,800	582,700
26	Brisbane	Rockhampton	517	569,600	600,600	643,900	606,400	644,400	636,100	612,600	587,800	563,800	522,100
27	Melbourne	Sunshine Coast	1452	452,100	412,300	403,200	382,000	324,600	392,200	397,600	406,000	441,800	485,800
28	Melbourne	Newcastle	835	416,800	369,000	370,700	429,700	425,200	437,500	434,900	443,000	449,500	476,100
29	Karratha	Perth	1247	-	518,300	587,100	646,100	762,500	722,100	685,200	600,200	490,600	436,900
30	Brisbane	Darwin	2850	341,600	381,600	367,200	366,000	367,000	375,900	391,500	396,200	407,700	406,200

Busiest airports

Domestic Airport passenger numbers are calculated by the Department of Infrastructure and Transport and include passenger numbers from the major domestic airlines only; these being Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar and Tiger Australia. Rex Airlines, QantasLink and similar airlines are considered to be regional airlines and are not included in these figures.

Monthly

Busiest Airports by Domestic Passenger Numbers
Month of March 2015^[16]

Rank	Airport	State	Total Mar 2014	Total Mar 2015	Monthly Change %
1.	Sydney Airport	New South Wales	2,154,200	2,209,600	2.6
2.	Melbourne Airport	Victoria	1,974,700	2,055,400	4.1
3.	Brisbane Airport	Queensland	1,402,700	1,390,600	0.9
4.	Perth Airport	Western Australia	731,600	713,200	2.5
5.	Adelaide Airport	South Australia	581,300	585,100	0.7
6.	Gold Coast Airport	Queensland	398,100	400,000	0.5
7.	Cairns Airport	Queensland	278,000	284,900	2.5
8.	Canberra Airport	Australian Capital Territory	250,400	252,000	0.7
9.	Hobart Airport	Tasmania	192,300	199,200	3.6
10.	Darwin Airport	Northern Territory	128,300	125,800	1.9

Yearly

Busiest Airports by Domestic Passenger Numbers
FY 2016-2017^[17]

Rank	Airport	State	FY 2015-16	FY 2016-17	Change %
1	Sydney Airport	New South Wales	26,587,000	27,077,700	1.8
2	Melbourne Airport	Victoria	24,482,700	24,996,800	2.1
3	Brisbane Airport	Queensland	17,013,200	17,102,600	0.5
4	Perth Airport	Western Australia	8,285,900	8,029,500	3.1
5	Adelaide Airport	South Australia	6,922,000	7,049,200	1.8
6	Gold Coast Airport	Queensland	5,256,400	5,362,800	2.0
7	Cairns Airport	Queensland	4,141,800	4,283,300	3.4
8	Canberra Airport	Australian Capital Territory	2,816,000	2,932,800	4.1
9	Hobart Airport	Tasmania	2,312,900	2,440,800	5.5
10	Darwin Airport	Northern Territory	1,783,700	1,809,400	1.4