Melbourne Airport welcomed more than one million international travellers in March for the first time, despite the significant disruption caused by the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

A total of 1,002,589 international passengers travelled through the airport last month, surpassing the previous March monthly record of 937,696 international travellers set in 2025.

Overall, a total of 3,129,811 people travelled through Melbourne Airport in March, driven by strong interest in the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Labour Day long weekend.

Domestic passenger numbers were up 5.9% year-on-year, primarily due to storms that affected travel to Queensland in March 2025.

The new March international record was achieved despite airspace closures that forced the cancellation of numerous services operated by Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.

March also heralded the launch of daily AirAsia flights between Melbourne Airport and Bali, Singapore Airlines upgauging one of its five daily flights to an Airbus A380 and British Airways announcing that it will connect Melbourne and London Heathrow daily from January 2027.

Melbourne Airport CEO Lorie Argus said the March international record underscored the need for the airport’s investment in new terminal and airfield infrastructure.

“March was a difficult month for many travellers, with conflict in the Middle East causing significant disruption for some of our major hubs and key routes to Europe,” she said.

“While Middle East services are progressively resuming and stabilising, it has been pleasing to see other airlines add capacity to Melbourne, with demand for connections through Southeast Asia, China and North American hubs particularly strong and load factors correspondingly high.

“Even as cost of living pressures mount, we expect to see people prioritising travel to connect with friends, family or experiences both here in Melbourne, as well as interstate and overseas.

“We know oil prices will put pressure on both airlines and consumers in the short to medium term, but our investments highlight our commitment to look beyond the current challenges and deliver much needed capacity for airlines and travellers.

“We’re building a third runway and investing $4.5 billion to expand our international terminal to give airlines the flexibility they need to schedule more flights to the places people want to fly, at the times they want to travel.

“The first phase of our international terminal expansion project will open later this year with a state-of-the art new baggage system and new Pick up and Drop off locations for Terminals 1, 2 and 3, which will allow us to start expanding the terminal footprint into the current forecourt and across the existing departures ramp.”