Following the reopening of the Queensland border in Australia, airports across the Sunshine State, as well as Victoria and Sydney are seeing a significant boost in passenger bookings.
On Monday 30 November around 9,000 passengers were booked to travel with the first Qantas and Jetstar flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Queensland with travellers heading north for long-awaited reunions with family and friends as well as on holidays. The two airlines will operate more than 420 return flights per week across 19 routes between Queensland and both Sydney and Melbourne. This is a significant increase on the 40 or so return flights being operated when borders were closed.
While Melbourne-Sydney remains the top busiest air route in the country, Sydney-Brisbane and Melbourne-Brisbane now follow closely behind. Flights to Cairns, Hamilton Island, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast are already proving popular with customers in the lead-up to the holiday season.
The reopening of the Queensland borders will also see more than 1,200 Qantas and Jetstar team members return to work in December.
“Many of our customers have told us about how difficult the border closures have been, so we know today will be emotional for family and friends who can now reunite after months apart,” said Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans. “It is also terrific for Queensland tourism operators who have had it tough over the past four months with border closures severely impacting their businesses,” he continued.
From airports to hotels, tourist attractions, restaurants and cafes, “everyone involved with Sunshine State tourism will be celebrating what is a fantastic day for Australia’s domestic recovery,“ he concluded.
To coincide with the opening of more domestic borders Melbourne Airport is launching a major outdoor advertising campaign. The initiative, called ‘Now is the time’ is a collaboration between Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia and outdoor advertising space owners oOh! Media.
The campaign will run for 10 weeks and will promote domestic destinations such as Sydney, Byron Bay, Newcastle, Canberra and Tasmania that can be accessed from the Queensland gateway.
The airport has also welcomed the development of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link that will provide better access to the airport. Melbourne Airport’s Chief Executive, Lyell Strambi, said the airport rail link is more than 50 years in the making. He also said that the airport would work closely with government through the details of the project in the coming months to understand how it will deliver against three core principles.
“To be successful, the Melbourne Airport Rail Link needs to be fast, frequent and reliable,” he said. “We look forward to working with government to see how these objectives will be met. We will work constructively to make sure the airport rail link delivers the best possible passenger experience.”
