Brisbane Airport ready for Dallas route: Julieanne Alroe

Brisbane Airport chief Julieanne Alroe has declared the city ready for Qantas direct flights to the US city of Dallas.

Brisbane Airport CEO Julieanne Alroe on the runway. Picture: Tara Croser.

Brisbane Airport chief Julieanne Alroe has declared the Queensland capital is ready for Qantas to launch direct flights to the US city of Dallas on the airline’s Boeing 787s when they are delivered next year.

Ms Alroe’s comments come as an ongoing stoush between Qantas and Perth airport over who should pay for terminal upgrades threatens to derail plans to launch a direct Perth to London flight on the airline’s long-range 787.

But Ms Alroe said that if Perth Airport did not want to accommodate Qantas and its flagship fleet of 787s — which will be progressively delivered form October next year — then Brisbane Airport would.

“If they don’t want it we’ll take it,” Ms Alroe told The Australian.

While Qantas and Virgin Australia both fly from Brisbane to Los Angeles, Ms Alroe said the airport was keen to increase the frequency and routes from the city into North America.

“We’d love to see Dallas come online. We had Dallas return leg before they put the A380 on it and it was very popular because we have a lot of American investment in the energy business here, so there was some pretty regular travel to and from Texas,” Ms Alroe said

Ms Alroe said Brisbane Airport was also keen to have airlines fly from the Queensland capital to San Francisco, but that it was more likely Dallas would be added first.

“I think Dallas will come before San Francisco. That’s where the airlines are most eager to go to. Unless we can convince an American airline to do it,” she said.

However, before Brisbane is likely to welcome the return of a Dallas route, Ms Alroe said there was still work to be done to convince Qantas that the Queensland capital was the right fit for the airline.

“We are in discussions with Qantas and all we can do is make the business case for them that Brisbane is a good destination for both business and freight,” she said.

“Brisbane is a destination in its own right, but it’s also a gateway. We are the most domestically connected airport in the country because of the decentralised nature of Queensland. We also think the tourism trade will work in both directions. Airlines put and keep aircraft where they make money so we have to convince them that the decision to put the 787 here is the right one for them.”

Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth are all vying to be the launch route for Qantas’s flagship Boeing 787s.

Perth was shaping up as the favourite for the inaugural service, with Qantas eager to use its 787s in a direct flight from Australia to Europe. The airline’s chief Alan Joyce recently said negotiations for its Perth to London service were drawing to a close.

But the Perth-London service has been put in doubt as Qantas and the Perth Airport wade through negotiations on who should pay for a $25 million upgrade to the airline’s facilities.

Qantas wants to consolidate its operations at the domestic terminal on the western side of the airport’s runways at terminals three and four, which would allow it to more easily hook into its domestic routes.

But Perth Airport doesn’t want to be left holding the bill for the multi-million-dollar fitout of new customs facilities when it has long-term plans to build a new international terminal within the next decade.

It is understood that Qantas would willingly move to that new site, but wants its interim arrangement implemented until the new terminal is complete, which could be 10 years away.

It’s expected the impasse will soon be broken with either some sort of compromise being brokered or Qantas committing its long-range 787 to another airport.

Ms Alroe said she was not expecting Qantas to make a final decision on 787 routes into the US until early next year, but Brisbane airport would continue to make its case heard.

“There are a couple of iconic routes they will probably want to pioneer to show off the new plane, but when it comes to how they want to make money out of a route, we will make a compelling case,” she said.

“So it’s all in play, and if not Qantas, then we will look to someone else who wants to do it. But we do want Qantas.”