International visitors up 6 per cent at Brisbane Airport

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This was published 9 years ago

International visitors up 6 per cent at Brisbane Airport

By Cameron Atfield
Updated

A spike in Asian tourism and a series of international events resulted in international passenger numbers increasing by almost 6 per cent last financial year, the Brisbane Airport Corporation has announced.

The total of 4,791,148 international arrivals and departures in 2013/14 was 267,742 – or 5.9 per cent – more than the previous financial year.

Brisbane Airport traffic was up on both domestic and international routes in the last financial year.

Brisbane Airport traffic was up on both domestic and international routes in the last financial year.Credit: Glenn Hunt

Domestic numbers also saw a rise of a more modest 1.3 per cent, from 16,842,523 in 2012/13 to 17,053,880 in 2013/14.

Brisbane Airport chief executive Julieanne Alroe said some key events contributed to the growth in international passengers in the 2013/14 financial year.

The Ashes Test at the Gabba helped drive up arrival numbers at Brisbane Airport last financial year.

The Ashes Test at the Gabba helped drive up arrival numbers at Brisbane Airport last financial year.Credit: Glenn Hunt

“The Ashes cricket Test and the Australian Tourism Exchange in Cairns are events that encouraged many travellers to take advantage of the excellent flight network offered to and from Brisbane,” she said in a statement.

“We expect that trend to continue with Brisbane hosting a busy calendar of global events over the coming year, including the G20 and matches for the Asian World Cup (sic) and cricket World Cup.”

A 10 per cent increase in visitors from Asia, including 6.9 per cent from China, 18.2 per cent from Singapore and 13.2 per cent from India, spearheaded the increase in international visitors.

“This significant growth from Asia is why BAC is targeting this region with our recently released China Strategy,” Ms Alroe said.

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“We’re aiming to strengthen existing relationships with airlines, build new relationships with the broader business market and consumers, and increase Brisbane Airport’s profile in this market as a competitive gateway to Australia.”

April 2014 saw the biggest monthly passenger growth, with an additional 49,000 travellers, while the single busiest day at the international terminal was January 5, with more than 18,200 arrivals and departures.

Domestically, October 2013 recorded the biggest monthly growth, with more than 1.54 million travellers – up 12,240 on the previous record set in October 2012.

The busiest day at the domestic terminal was on April 17, the day before Good Friday, with 62,883 arrivals and departures.

Garuda Indonesia and Jetstar both introduced services between Brisbane and Denpasar in 2013/14.

Emirates, Etihad Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Qantas also increased flights or upgraded aircraft on some Brisbane routes in the past year.

The 2013/14 financial year also saw the introduction of Brisbane’s first A380 services when Emirates introduced routes to Dubai and Auckland in October last year.

Virgin Australia this week announced it would increase the frequency of its Brisbane-Los Angeles route to make it a daily service.

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