Brisbane Airport breaks all-time international passenger records even before Covid-19

Brisbane Airport has smashed its all-time passenger record two months in a row as travellers usher in a new era in air travel for Queensland.

India Coleing, 26, and Laura Heptonstall, 34, at the Brisbane International Airport. Picture: Liam Kidston

Brisbane Airport has soared to new heights on the back off the 3 million passengers that passed through the terminals over summer, smashing the all-time passenger record.

For the past four years, airport statistics have been compared to numbers before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, but that disclaimer has been rendered irrelevant after an extraordinary summer holiday rush which saw more than 3.1 million passengers go through the domestic and international terminals between December 13 and January 27.

Pre-Covid numbers at the domestic terminal have been surpassed several times but significantly, December and January each recorded more international travellers than any other time in the airport’s history.

In December, the international terminal had its highest passenger month on record with 631,700 passengers, before smashing the new mark again in January with 638,800.

The previous record of 620,000 passengers had been set in January 2020.

Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said the travel hub had now not only shaken off the shackles of the post-Covid lul, but shattered them completely.

“While we acknowledge this is a milestone worth celebrating, this will be the last time we ever talk publicly about 2019 numbers,” he said.

“This is a line-in-the-sand moment and from now on we will only quote year-on-year numbers.

India Coleing, 26, and Laura Heptonstall, 34, at the Brisbane International Airport. Picture: Liam Kidston

“We’re future focused, looking at what more we can do to continually improve the global connectivity for the people of Queensland, while at the same time investing in and improving the lifestyle of South East Queensland.”

The growth in international numbers has been driven by new routes including American Airlines launching flights to Dallas-Fort Worth, Delta Air Lines flights to Los Angeles, Jetstar services to Bangkok and Qantas to Manila and Palau, while United Airlines, China Eastern, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas have all increased capacity on existing routes.

Many of those routes were facilitated through the Queensland Government’s Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, a multimillion-dollar war chest designed to bring international carriers back to Queensland in the wake of the pandemic.

January saw the international terminal operating at 109 per cent of 2019 volumes and the domestic terminal at 104 per cent.

Mr de Graaff said the record numbers coincided with a period of massive investment in the airport over the next decade.

“The simple fact is these numbers are being driven by a growing demand from Queenslanders who want to travel and by international visitors who want to come to our beautiful state,” he said.

“That demand is only going to increase which is why we’re investing more than $5b across the airport over the next decade in retail, logistics and infrastructure development.

“Our region and our state demands a world-class airport with connections across the country and the world, and that is what we are focused on delivering every day.”