Domestic airlines still managed to carry more than 55 million passengers in 20l0/11, in a year where floods, ash clouds and other natural disasters severely disrupted air travel.

Passenger numbers grew by 5.8 per cent compared with the prior year, just a tick below the six per cent increase in capacity as measured by the number of available seats.

The figures were contained in the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) report, published on Thursday.

“The resilience of the industry and the confidence of Australians to continue flying shows the strength of the Australian economy compared to the rest of the world,” Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.

The Melbourne-Sydney route maintained its position as Australia’s busiest city air corridor, carrying 7.9 million passengers last financial year.

It is also the world’s fourth busiest route.

The Melbourne-Cairns route recorded the largest growth in passenger traffic, up 30.2 per cent on the previous year.

Sydney Airport had the most passengers passing through its domestic terminals, with 24.59 million passenger movements.

Perth’s domestic airport, led all Australian airports for passenger growth, up 9.1 per cent.