Melbourne Airport sees record month

Melbourne Airport in Australia saw its busiest ever month in October 2008, with some 2.19 million passengers.

The figure is up 6.8% on October last year and breaks the previous record of 2.17 million visitors set in March.

According to Tourism Victoria, the achievement highlights Melbourne's status as the "events capital" of Australia.

The Spring Racing Festival, which is famous for the Melbourne Cup, begins in October, while the airport figures in March were boosted by the Australian Grand Prix and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

March 2009 also looks set to be a busy month at Melbourne Airport as the city hosts the Food and Wine Festival, which will take place from March 7th to 23rd and attract more than 300,000 visitors.

A number of celebrity chefs will boost the profile of the event, including Heston Blumenthal, Philip Howard and Shane Osborn.

Today (November 28th) will see the opening of the Southern Star in Melbourne, a 120-metre-high observation wheel offering views across the city and beyond.

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