Direct flights lights from Brisbane to Seoul, Manila and Taipei
International travel to Queensland is soaring back to life with the resumption of direct flights to another major tourism market.
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Direct flights from Brisbane to South Korea will resume as the tourism industry seeks to expand services to markets across the globe following the pandemic-induced sector collapse.
Five flights a week will fly to Seoul from April, adding to the recent resumption of direct flights to Manila in the Philippines and Taipei in Taiwan.
From March, travellers will also be able to fly directly between Brisbane and Auckland on budget flights through Jetstar.
The expansion of services comes after a number of other destinations were added in recent months, including San Francisco and Vancouver.
Brisbane Airport executive manager Ryan Both said the addition of 89,000 inbound flights from South Korea will inject $120 million into the tourism market.
“South Korea is our third largest trading market and a major technology partner in Queensland’s new energy economy,” he said.
“We have one of Australia’s largest Korean communities who will now have a direct connection with families.
“Flights were of course halted due to the pandemic. It will be great to have them back permanently.”
Mr Both said international travel to Brisbane during December and January had returned to 61 per cent of pre-Covid levels.
“So we still have a way to go to rebuild our network but, compared with one year ago when we were at just 2 per cent capacity, we have come a long way,” he said.
“There remains a shortage of aircraft and flight crew so every time a jet becomes available, we are competing with cities across the globe for that new service.
Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said 15 direct services had been added or resumed to the Queensland aviation industry in the 12-months since the state government’s jointly funded $200 million attracting aviation investment fund kicked off.
The fund was created to reignite the travel sector in the wake of Covid-19, with new markets hoping to be added in the coming months.
“There are certainly new markets in Southern Asia, in Southeast Asia and other parts of the globe that we want to see a rebuild or become new routes direct into Queensland,” Mr Hinchliffe said.
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