Keeping our eyes on the sky and growing the pie
Posted on February 13th, 2024
Just under 140,000,000 (140 million) air travellers on public flights passed through an Australian Airport in the 2022-23 financial year according to official BITRE (Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics) data.
Nearly 30% of those travellers passed through a Queensland Airport.
Of the Top 20 Airports in Australia, nearly half (9) are in Queensland, of which *six (6) are in Regional Queensland, so the importance of staying competitive in the skies is critical for our destination.
Fortunately, for 22-23, Rockhampton airport was ranked number 17 in the Top 20 Airports in Australia with over half a million (557,583) passengers passing through its gates, recovering well with higher than pre-Covid results, and growing.
Queensland Airports in Top 20 passenger numbers in Australia 2022-23:
Strong business travel across mining/resources, health, education and other professional industries as well as visiting friends and relatives (known as VFR) is a key component of visitors to regional airports particularly in Rockhampton, Townsville, Mackay and Proserpine.
However, there is a clear expectation for considerable aviation growth of holiday visitors to all destinations if Queensland is to achieve the State governments Towards Tourism 2032 target of doubling visitor expenditure to $44 Billion within the next eight (8) years!
Queensland airports with international status such as Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Townsville still have a degree of recovery yet to go, but the State government’s Aviation fund is a necessary boost to existing and new airline routes, with the latest deal announced last week between American Airlines and Brisbane.
There is absolutely no doubt, that new low cost carrier BONZA has played a significant role in increasing domestic aviation capacity to regional Queensland, with the majority of their routes previously not served by a low-cost carrier, including Rockhampton.
Capricorn Enterprise as the regional tourism and economic development Organisation continues to work closely with BONZA and assist our tourism operators contract with major airlines Qantas Holidays and Virgin, to help grow our destination.
One of our biggest challenges however, is very strong competition from other Qld regional centres, particularly when you consider that Hamilton Island, Whitsunday (Proserpine) and Mackay airports combined welcomed nearly 2 Million passengers in 2022-23, and all considerably higher than pre-covid levels. These three airports enjoy direct flights with multiple carriers from major city centres including Melbourne and Sydney, investing considerable money into subsidising strategic routes with low-cost carriers. The need for Rockhampton Airport to remain competitive by offering similar airline subsidies, has perhaps never been more important as other regional destinations in not just Queensland, but across the country, aggressively seek to grow their share of the pie.
The Whitsunday destination also has multiple island and mainland resorts and is a long established destination brand. Product development in new resort and five star accommodation is urgently needed at Great Keppel Island, Yeppoon and Rockhampton if we are to realise the State government’s Towards Tourism 2032 vision for increasing visitor expenditure to our Capricorn Coast, Southern Great Barrier Reef destination, as one of the thirteen official tourism regions in Queensland.
The question is; do our local and state governments have the appetite to collaborate with industry to help achieve these goals in time for 2032?
Source: BITRE (Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics) Aviation Statistics
In 2022-23: 139,552,112 total passengers in Australia. 25.8% through Queensland (37,451,331 pax).
This data includes commercial flights only – it does not include private charters (for example, private mining charter flights such as Labona Air to Carmichael Mine from Rockhampton and Townsville, Military Charters such as SAF and US, small charter flights)
