Brisbane Airport Records Strongest Growth in 2019
In 2019, 24.1 million visitors visited our great city, recording the strongest grown in both international and domestic passengers of the country’s major gateway airports, reports Brisbane Airport Corporation.
The statistics come even before the opening of the new run way; which is expected to open this year and double the capacity of the airport, and the $40 million re-development of the domestic terminal which includes a new food hall and retail space scheduled to be operational by the end of the year.
The total growth for both international and domestic passengers combined was 2.1% for the year. International travellers increased by 266,182 to 6.3 million for the year, and domestic passengers increased by 1.3% to 17.7 million.
Gert-Jan de Graaff, Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) Chief Executive Officer said the major infrastructure projects that are in progress are a huge drive for our city.
“With Brisbane Airport recording the strongest passenger growth amongst Australia’s major gateway airports, it is clear the rest of the world is taking notice of our great city and region and all it has to offer,” Mr de Graaff said.
“The growth in visitor numbers is good news for our city, with the latest International and National Visitor Surveys conducted by Tourism Research Australia showing record expenditure occurring in Brisbane by both domestic and international visitors,” said Mr de Graaff.
Highlights of the airport growth and changes throughout the year include; Direct flights from Brisbane to Bangkok with Air Asia X three times per week, Direct weekly flights to Munda in with Solomon Airlines and, flights to Bandar Seri Begawan with Royal Brunei four times per week.
The top three international growth markets by volume were New Zealand, China (including Hong King), and the United States.
Hannah Schuhmann said we are on the cusp of major transformation for Brisbane, and these figures are just the beginning. The new airport runway opening this year is just in time for the major developments happening in the city including the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf integrated development, International Cruise Ship Terminal, the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail, and the Brisbane Quarter development to name but a few.