Brisbane Airport international terminal to break record post-pandemic
People travelling through Brisbane Airport on Saturday have been warned to plan ahead and arrival early ahead of what’s expected to be the busiest day since the pandemic began.
QLD News
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A record number of travellers are expected to move through Brisbane Airport’s international terminal on Saturday.
Brisbane Airport Corporation chief executive Gert-Jan de Graaff recommended international travellers get to the airport three hours before their flight and those travelling domestic to arrive 90 minutes, with the airport expected to experience its busiest day since the start of the pandemic.
“Having time up your sleeve so you arrive comfortably at the gate ready for your flight means you get away smoothly,” he said.
Mr de Graaff said traffic through the airport was a great sign for Queensland’s economy.
“Saturday is shaping up as the busiest day in the international terminal since the pandemic began with 14,500 travellers in a single day,” Mr de Graaff said.
“If you think back to this time last year, international arrivals were capped at 1000 people per week so we’ve come a long way.”
But the busy period isn’t meant to stop on Saturday, with momentum gathering throughout the month.
“Across January we will see 1.7 million passengers pass through Brisbane Airport. That’s one million more people than January last year,” he said.
In the international terminal, the recovery is at 63 per cent with the largest number of tourists coming from New Zealand, United States of America and the United Kingdom.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Brett Fraser said despite challenges from Covid Queensland tourism was buoyed by the growing number of international travellers.
“Our tourism industry has made a remarkable comeback over the past year, but we still have a way to go to full recovery,” Mr Fraser said.
“As confidence in international travel increases, we expect to welcome back not only thousands more global visitors to Queensland in 2023, but to also see a corresponding increase in tourism dollars for our state’s economy.”
Improvement in the international sector has been noticed at other international airports in Queensland.
“While passenger bookings with our airlines aren’t yet finalised for January, looking at seats available – we could see up to 70,000 international passengers travelling through Gold Coast Airport over the month of January,” Queensland Airports Limited chief operating officer Marion Charlton said.
“During January, we could see more than 50,000 passengers travel between Gold Coast Airport and New Zealand on our Auckland, Queenstown, Christchurch and Wellington connections.”
Cairns Airport is still recovering, however specific flights are helping boost international traffic.
“With Japan fully open and Bali flights returning, departures saw a boost as Aussies took to the ski slopes and beaches, respectively,” a Cairns Airport spokesman said.
“Singapore Airlines flights continued to perform well providing connecting from Asia and Europe.”
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