Complete makeover for Cairns’ Skyrail to ensure ongoing access to world’s oldest rainforest

Skyrail’s owners will spend more than double the attraction's original cost to transform the famous Cairns cableway, with the makeover to extend its life for another 30 years.

Larger wheelchair-accessible gondolas will be installed on the Cairns Skyrail in an $85m makeover.

The family behind Cairns’ popular Skyrail attraction has committed to an $85m makeover of the cableway to ensure it can carry tourists over world heritage-listed rainforest for another 30 years.

The Chapman family owns and operates the 7.5km Skyrail, considered one of the world’s longest and most complex gondola cableways.

Built to give visitors to far north Queensland a birds-eye view of the Barron Gorge National Park including Barron Falls, Skyrail opened in 1995 with 47 gondolas and the capacity to carry 300 people an hour. Two years later another 67 gondolas were added, increasing the capacity to 700 people an hour.

Skyrail chairman Ken Chapman said the cableway had its fair share of detractors when it was proposed but over the decades the sensitivity shown to the environment had silenced the naysayers.

“There were some who thought you shouldn’t have people in a world heritage area, you should keep them out, but that’s completely wrong,” he said.

“If you’re going to have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people visiting without damaging it, you do it the way we’re doing it, by taking them over the rainforest, not through it, bringing them down to what were existing clearings, taking ranger guide tours and walking on boardwalks.

“All of that means we actually change the way people look at the environment as part of this experience; we turn people into rainforest conservationists.”

New Skyrail gondolas will offer floor-to-ceiling views.

The Chapman family is funding the $85m makeover – which is more than double the original cost of Skyrail ($37m).

Mr Chapman said that was due to the fact all the gondolas, ropes and componentry had to be built in Europe, and paid for in euros.

“In 30 years of operation we’ve done in excess of 100,000 hours, so as a minimum we needed to change the cabins,” he said. “After all you can’t have planes that are too old, and Skyrail is an airframe.

“We didn’t necessarily have to upgrade the way we are but we are doing that, so it’ll be state-of-the-art technology, a big improvement in performance and safety, it will be quieter, and the cabins are bigger and level walk-in which means wheelchairs and prams can roll straight in.”

Re-construction will take place in two stages, over three to four months in 2026 and 2027.

During those times, only one section of the cableway will operate with passengers to be bussed on the remainder of the journey between Smithfield and Kuranda.

The Edge lookout on the Skyrail rainforest Cableway experience in Cairns.

Mr Chapman said there would be a complete closure for four weeks after the July 2026 school holidays to allow helicopters to carry out some of the work.

Europe-based global cableway leader Doppelmayr Group will spearhead the project, which Australian general manager Shaun Turner described as a “huge challenge”.

“Our company has built almost 16,000 lifts worldwide but becoming part of the Skyrail story stands out as a career-defining highlight for me and my team,” he said.

Tourism leaders hailed the investment, calling it one of the most significant infrastructure spends in northern Australia’s history.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chief executive Mark Olsen said Skyrail was the region’s top commercial tourist attraction, and one of the most visited in the country.

“Skyrail’s importance to our destination’s $1bn international economy cannot be overstated, with more than half of the region’s international holiday visitors experiencing the cableway, adding half a day to the average length of stay,” he said.

“Skyrail is also a critical part of the region’s reputation as Australia’s leading eco-tourism destination, educating millions of visitors about one of the world’s most biologically diverse environments.”

Originally published as Complete makeover for Cairns’ Skyrail to ensure ongoing access to world’s oldest rainforest