Queensland airports are riding a strong travel wave, with two major hubs recording their busiest Aprils ever as Cairns Airport launches a major retail expansion push.
Gold Coast Airport handled 570,703 passengers in April, surpassing its previous April record and attracting more than 41,000 additional travellers year-on-year. Meanwhile, Townsville Airport welcomed 144,941 passengers, beating its previous April high set way back in 2012 by more than 6,300 travellers.
Queensland Airports Limited (QAL) Chief of Aviation Adam Rowe linked the growth to overlapping school holidays, increased airline capacity and rising travel demand across domestic and international markets.
“This year the Queensland and New South Wales school holidays overlapped which drove a spike in travel demand between Good Friday and 19 April,” he said of Gold Coast Airport.
Mr Rowe also pointed to expanded international services, including extra capacity on Bali and New Zealand routes, alongside stronger domestic networks.
Townsville benefited from similar momentum, particularly on key Brisbane and Melbourne services.
“Since this time last year Virgin Australia, QantasLink and Jetstar have all ungauged their aircraft on key markets including Brisbane and Melbourne,” Mr Rowe said.
He added that more than 15,000 additional seats were available on the Brisbane route compared to April last year.
Townsville Enterprise Director of Visitor Economy and Marketing Lisa Woolfe said the figures reflected broader tourism growth across the region.
“At the same time as these record airport visitor numbers, we’ve also seen over 40% increase in visitor spend and 9% increase in accommodation occupancy for the month of April compared to last year,” she said.
Cairns expansion
Further north, Cairns Airport has launched its first major retail tender in a decade following a $55 million overhaul of its international terminal.
According to the Far North Queensland gateway, the request for tender spans more than 2,500 square metres across international and domestic terminals, including duty-free, retail and food-and-beverage opportunities.
Cairns Airport CEO Richard Barker said the airport continued to outperform many larger gateways on passenger spending.
“Historically, we have always punched above our weight in terms of PSR, outperforming not only our peer regional airports but indeed many of the larger capital city ports,” he remarked.
International passenger numbers at Cairns have now recovered to levels not seen since 2008, supported by direct flights including Singapore, Japan, Bali, Fiji and New Zealand.
KARRYON UNPACKS: Queensland’s airport boom isn’t just about bigger passenger numbers. It’s also reshaping airport investment, retail, and aviation confidence across the state, particularly as regional gateways compete more aggressively for travellers.
