POPULAR WORDS

November 25, 2009

Queensland airports have shown an encouraging overall growth in airline seats over the past 12 months, with the Gold Coast leading the way as Australia’s fastest growing airport, according to Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor.

Tourism Queensland's latest international capacity data reveals flights into Queensland's key international gateways has increased by two percent during the six-month northern hemisphere winter period of November 2009 to March 2010 compared to the same period the year before.

"International capacity to Queensland airports is estimated at 64,800 weekly seats during the northern winter 2009 period up two percent from the same period last year," Lawlor says.

"Jetstar's introduction of the Airbus A321 on the Singapore-Darwin-Cairns route and new daily services from Tokyo resulted in good news for Cairns, with overall capacity increasing by 7.6 percent,” he says.

In addition, Continental Micronesia added two weekly flights on the Guam-Cairns route, which contributed to an overall strong result for Cairns.

According to Lawlor, the Gold Coast has also experienced an increase in international capacity with AirAsia X and Jetstar adding services and launching new routes.

"This has resulted in 18 percent more international airline seats into the Gold Coast compared to the northern winter 2008 period," he says.

"This is a fantastic result and makes the Gold Coast Australia's fastest growing airport."

While international capacity to Brisbane has declined by 1.5 percent, Lawlor says there are still a number of good news stories for Queensland's largest international airport.

"V Australia's commencement of twice weekly services from Phuket; Thai Airways' return to non-stop daily services between Bangkok and Brisbane; and Singapore Airlines' return to triple daily flights from Singapore will all strengthen Brisbane's position as Queensland's primary gateway for international visitors," he says.