Brisbane International Airport tracking toward pre-pandemic numbers

Brisbane Airport’s international wing is on track to reach pre-pandemic travel numbers within months, as Qantas adds an extra 35,000 seats to overseas destinations.

Brisbane Airport’s international wing is on track to reach pre-pandemic travel numbers within months, as Qantas adds an extra 35,000 seats to overseas destinations.

From October, Qantas will introduce larger planes and more frequent flights to cater for extra demand on services to Wellington and to the Samoan capital of Apia.

A Boeing 737 aircraft will replace daily Embraer E190 flights to Wellington, adding more than 600 seats on the route each week, while services to Samoa will bump up from three to five per week next summer.

Qantas will add 35,000 extra seats on Pacific routes out of Brisbane. File picture

Brisbane Airport’s international passenger numbers are still yet to return to 2019 levels, but with a number of airlines announcing new destinations or increased capacity on existing routes, it is projected that a full recovery will be complete in the coming months.

Much of the growth has been across the Pacific, with New Zealand, Pacific Island nations and North America all experiencing a boom in flights out of Brisbane.

Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace said the airline was pleased to be adding seats for

the growing numbers of customers travelling between Brisbane and both New Zealand and

the Pacific.

“This boost to our Queensland network is about giving our customers more choice on routes

where we are seeing strong demand,” he said.

“We’ve had a fantastic response from Queenslanders wanting to travel across the Tasman

since our Wellington route first launched late last year.

“The new service also makes it easier for Kiwis to experience the world-famous beaches in

Queensland and access the Great Barrier Reef, or connect through Brisbane to our

extensive domestic network in the Sunshine State and beyond.”

Qantas now operates non-stop flights to 11 international destinations from Brisbane, with three of those routes launching in the past two years.

Originally published as Brisbane International Airport tracking toward pre-pandemic numbers