Brisbane Airport has forecast that 3.7 million passengers will travel through its domestic and international terminals during the holidays –an increase of 20 per cent from the same period in 2022 – and not far from the 4 million recorded in pre-covid 2019.
In the Domestic Terminal, 2.7 million passengers are forecast to fly during the holidays, a rise of 12 per cent from 2022, and 96 per cent of pre-pandemic travel.
In the International Terminal, one million passengers are projected to travel in the 2023 holiday season, up 46 per cent from the last year, and 88 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
Projections show China is forecast to regain its position as a top three contributor of international tourists to Queensland this summer.
Brisbane will receive 14 flights per week from China over the holiday and Lunar New Year peak following the return of China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
In response to this forecast, Brisbane Airport has facilitated a training session for Brisbane Hotels to prepare for the resurgence of this valuable market.
Brisbane Airport CEO, Gert-Jan de Graaff, said that it’s vital that the hospitality industry is ready for the return of this powerhouse market.
“The growth of arrivals from India has been meteoric. This is a rapidly expanding market with a new generation of travellers connecting with friends and family in Queensland,” Mr de Graaff said.
“For Queenslanders heading overseas, New Zealand remains the most popular destination simply because we have the biggest number of Kiwis in Australia and many love to connect with family at this time of year. Over the Christmas period there are up to 92 flights per week in each direction, up from 70 last year.
“This is the first Christmas holidays that Queenslanders have been directly connected to Vietnam, thanks to Vietjet, so it is a trending destination.
“Capacity to Japan has recently quadrupled through Qantas and Jetstar and is very popular for Christmas, and today United Airlines begins services from Brisbane to Los Angeles, which is expanding capacity to the US.”
This growth will see a new post-pandemic record set in the International Terminal these holidays with the daily number of passengers forecast to exceed 20,000 for the first time since January 2020.
“To think, during the darkest days of the pandemic there were days of zero international passengers, and now we are back to 20,000 per day.”
