Queensland airports receive a boost in international air capacity
Posted by editor (editor) on Nov 25 2009
2009 >>

Queensland airports have shown an encouraging overall growth in airline seats over the past 12 months, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said today.

Mr Lawlor said Tourism Queensland’s latest international capacity data revealed flights into Queensland’s key international gateways had increased by two percent during the six month northern hemisphere winter period of November 2009 to March 2010 compared to the same period the year before.

“International capacity to Queensland airports is estimated at 64,800 weekly seats during the northern winter 2009 period up two percent from the same period last year,” he said.

“Jetstar’s introduction of the Airbus A321 on the Singapore-Darwin-Cairns route and new daily services from Tokyo resulted in good news for Cairns, with overall capacity increasing by 7.6%.

“In addition to this, Continental Micronesia added two weekly flights on the Guam-Cairns route making this an overall strong result for Cairns.”

Mr Lawlor said the Gold Coast had also experienced an increase in international capacity with AirAsia X and Jetstar adding services and launching new routes.

“This has resulted in 18 percent more international airline seats into the Gold Coast compared to the northern winter 2008 period,” he said.

“This is a fantastic result and makes the Gold Coast Australia’s fastest growing airport.”

Mr Lawlor said while international capacity to Brisbane had declined by 1.5 percent, there were still a number of good news stories for Queensland’s largest international airport.

“V Australia’s commencement of twice weekly services from Phuket; Thai Airways’ return to non-stop daily services between Bangkok and Brisbane; and Singapore Airlines’ return to triple daily flights from Singapore will all strengthen Brisbane’s position as Queensland’s primary gateway for international visitors.”

Mr Lawlor said Queensland was more dependent on airlines than any other state, having Australia’s most regionally dispersed tourism destinations.

“An increase in international seat capacity to Queensland airports over the next six months is a positive development for Queensland’s tourism industry and is a positive sign of a return to confidence in global travel,” he said.

“It is essential in difficult economic times such as these that we support the carriers who are committed to Queensland and Tourism Queensland and the State Government are working closely with a range of airline partners on securing new services and capacity for the state.”

Last changed: Nov 26 2009 at 11:57 AM