Brisbane Airport expecting busiest day of summer holidays

Brisbane Airport’s Christmas holiday period has officially kicked off with what is expected to be the busiest day of the summer.

Santa is coming – and so are Queensland’s holiday hordes.

New data from Brisbane Airport shows more than 3.7 million passengers will travel through the transport hub over the Christmas holiday period, which officially kicks off on Friday with what is expected to be the busiest day of the entire summer.

The statistics measure passengers both arriving and departing, but it is still a huge volume of inbound holiday-makers, with the airport bracing for its busiest summer season since 2019.

That was before the coronavirus pandemic sent travel down the toilet, but encouragingly, numbers are now back to 93 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

It is a 20 per cent increase on last year, with international traveller movements up 46 per cent on the 2022 summer holiday period – smashing the one million passenger mark for the first time in four years.

China – by far our biggest tourism market pre-Covid-19 – is also set for a stunning surge, with 14 flights pre week coming from the Asian superpower over the summer holidays.

To help prepare for the onslaught, Brisbane Airport this week facilitated a training session for Brisbane hotels to prepare for the resurgence of the valuable market which was virtually non-existent until the resumption of flights a few weeks ago.

Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaf said it was important to welcome the Chinese with open arms.

“It’s vital our hospitality industry is ready for the return of this powerhouse market,” he said.

The other rapid riser is India, up from eighth before the pandemic, and now coming in at number four, while New Zealand predictably leads the list.

Daily passenger numbers in the international terminal are expected to top 20,000 for the first time since January 2020 in a post-pandemic record.

Friday will see more than 55,000 passengers travel through the domestic terminal, in one of the busiest days of the holiday season.

However, it won’t be a record, as Easter recorded several days with greater numbers.

Across December, Brisbane Airport is staging free entertainment in the terminals to help families get into the festive spirit.

As well as Christmas activities and entertainment, there will be performances by the Brisbane Philharmonic Orchestra, Brisbane Pride Choir, Camerata, Opera Queensland and Queensland Ballet.

BY THE NUMBERS

Total passengers: 3.78 million (up 20 per cent on last year)

Domestic passengers: 2.73 million (up 12 per cent on 2022 and 96 per cent of 2019 levels)

International passengers: 1.05 million (up 46 per cent on last year and 88 per cent of pre-Covid-19)

TRAVEL DO’S AND DONT’S

• Aim to arrive 90 minutes before a domestic flight.

• Book carparking in advance as space is in heavy demand. Taxis and rideshare should also be reserved ahead of time.

• Check-in online before coming to the airport.

• Arrive three hours before international departures.

• Don’t pre-wrap presents that you intend to carry on board an aircraft, as airport security may have to unwrap gifts to inspect the contents.

• Leave Christmas bonbons at home. Christmas crackers or bonbons are generally on the naughty list when it comes to security screening.

• Fridays are the busiest days for travel

Originally published as Brisbane Airport expecting busiest day of summer holidays