Global aviation leaders gather in Cairns to discuss industry’s future

New Cairns international routes are top of the agenda for the region’s leaders as hundreds gather in town for an international summit. See which routes.

Cairns Airport chief executive Richard Barker and CAPA - Centre for Aviation global events director Claudia Kunz watch a Virgin Australia Boeing 737 take off from Cairns Airport.Picture: Brendan Radke

Greater domestic connectivity and opening up more international destinations are high on the agenda as the world’s most influential aviation figures gather in Cairns to discuss the industry’s future.

More than 350 international delegates from 26 airlines landed at the Cairns Convention Centre on Thursday for the two-day CAPA Airline Leader Summit.

Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker said the event was a rare chance to pitch directly to decision makers.

“The real opportunity for us is that we get senior airline executives to come to Cairns and experience it first-hand,” Mr Barker said.

“These are the people who will often make the final decisions about where they allocate aircraft, so it often ends up on the desk of the CFO and the CEO of the airline.

“If they’ve been to Cairns and experienced what a magnificent place this is, when they’re deciding whether it’s Cairns versus any other city in the region, then it really helps sometimes to have that personal connection.”

A Singapore Airlines Airbus A350 passenger jet lands at Cairns Airport, bringing tourists and visitors, as well as freight and cargo, including fresh exotic fruit and vegetable produce. Picture: Brendan Radke

Cairns Airport currently offers flights to nine international destinations, with much of Asia still unreachable from the Far North.

Mr Barker said these destinations could be expanded.

“We have representatives from all around the region. Vietnam is here, so we have a whole range of international airlines, all of which are within direct flights from Cairns to those countries, so it opens up lots of exciting opportunities,” he said.

“I’m optimistic that with the conversations we’re having with all of those airlines, all of them are all still on the table.”

The United States, Europe, United Kingdom and China are still Cairns key tourist markets but the advent of long-range, narrow-body aircraft could increase demand locally.

Set to join international aviation players from more than 26 countries to discuss the industry’s future are Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen, Tourism and Environment Minister Andrew Powell, Barron River MP Bree James and Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker.

The state government’s $130m Connecting Queensland fund is expected to play a large role in unlocking new routes as well as increasing domestic supply.

It is understood the fund will be used in conjunction with industry to make expanding new routes more attractive for airlines and to help manage risk.

Tourism and Environment Minister Andrew Powell said establishing a direct route between Brisbane and India was a top priority.

“It’s going to look for more strategic and sustainable international routes and that might be here to Cairns, that might be into Brisbane or the Gold Coast,” Mr Powell said.

“We’ve made it pretty clear we’re chasing a direct route between India and Brisbane.

“But while we’re doing that, what we heard loud and clear from Destination 2045 (tourism strategy) is that it’s as much about connecting the rest of Queensland to our international airports as it is about bringing in international tourists.

“So what we’re now looking at is how do we get people into Queensland from interstate. And how do we move them around the state?”

Originally published as Global aviation leaders gather in Cairns to discuss industry’s future