AIRPORT'S SKY-HIGH RESULTS LOW-COST CARRIERS DRAG IN THE PASSENGERS
22 November 2008
Shannon Willoughby business reporter
LOW-cost carriers are the winning ticket for the Gold Coast Airport, which reported a passenger increase of almost 8 per cent last month.
While sales in full-fare flights and business class tickets are down - Brisbane Airport last month had a growth of 2 per cent - passenger numbers on low-cost carriers remain strong.
Gold Coast Airport boss Paul Donovan said its growth was driven by AirAsia X, Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways.
International passengers jumped by 112 per cent on the previous year, with new flights to and from Malaysia, Fiji and Japan.
All up, Queensland Airports Limited, which includes Gold Coast, Townsville and Mt Isa airports, increased by 6.8 per cent during October, compared with last year's results.
``Years ago, when I joined the airport, we were saying we were going to make it the low-cost carrier airport of Australia and since then we have developed those strong relationships domestically and internationally and it has proven to have worked,'' said Mr Donovan.
``People can now afford to come to a vibrant, exciting place that has everything on offer for families and couples and will have more money to spend when they get here.''
Mr Donovan said he expected further increases when AirAsia X began its daily flights.
QAL boss Dennis Chant said the Gold Coast's international figures were the stand-out achievement in the company's October.
``(This reflects) the introduction of direct services from Osaka, Japan, by Jetstar and the 12th month of operations by AirAsia X from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,'' said Mr Chant.
``This is a monthly record for international passenger movements through Gold Coast.
``Handling this explosive growth in international numbers during a major rebuild of our terminal facilities has been challenging, but it is a wonderful indication of the potential the Gold Coast has to attract visitors from key Asian markets.''
Domestic figures on the Gold Coast were 354,778, an increase of 2.8 per cent from October 2007.
International numbers reached 34,672. Gold Coast Tourism boss Martin Winter said one of the `essentials' for the tourism region was affordable flights.
``We should not underestimate the value of these flights in the current economic climate, which makes if affordable for people to come to the Gold Coast,'' said Mr Winter.
``Part of GC Tourism's international marketing strategy is to follow the direct air access that we have and the value of this has shown.
``We are fortunate enough to have two airports that service both the Gold Coast and between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. We get the best of both worlds.
``The low-cost carriers bring in large volumes directly into the region and through Brisbane we can access visitors from a wide range.''
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