Brisbane Airport will welcome 20,000 international travellers today for the first time since the pandemic. It’s a positive rebound into the busy holiday season that’s taken almost four years to rebuild back to this passenger milestone.
Brisbane Airport’s International Terminal will see three days of 20,000-plus passengers on Friday 22 December, Saturday 6 January and Sunday 7 January.
BNE went from a record 24,641 passengers on 5 January 2020 to zero pax just four months later on 4 May 2020.
During the pandemic, there were 53 days with less than 100 passengers passing through the International Terminal and 13 days with zero passengers.
BNE forecasts more than one million international passengers across the entire school holiday period, representing 88 per cent of pre-COVID passengers. Over the Christmas period, BNE will provide 10 additional temporary check-in counters to assist with the passenger surge.
Runway to recovery in 2024
Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said BNE expects a full recovery to 100 per cent of pre-COVID capacity will occur by late next year.
“For Brisbane, we see that occurring consistently from November 2024, which will mark a five-year road back to full recovery,” he said.
In the past month, BNE saw the return of daily flights from China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, while Jetstar commenced Brisbane-Tokyo (Narita) services and will soon add Brisbane-Osaka and Brisbane-Seoul (Incheon) flights.
It’s been a big year of travel recovery for BNE and from February 2024, the airport will have direct flights to 29 international destinations, close to the 33 before the pandemic.
“Where will the 30th destination be? We look forward to the continued strategic rebuilding of our network in 2024. With 75 per cent of overseas visitors to Queensland arriving through BNE, we know this is the state’s critical tourism and transport hub,” Mr de Graaff added.
For more info, head to bne.com.au
