Brisbane Airport is the primary international airport serving Brisbane
and South East Queensland. It is the third busiest Australian airport by
aircraft movements. The airport services 26 airlines flying to 42 domestic and 28
international destinations, in total amounting in more than 21.8 million
passengers who travelled through the airport in 2013.
Brisbane Airport is a major hub for Virgin Australia, and a secondary hub
for both Qantas and its low cost subsidiary Jetstar. Tigerair Australia
also opened a base at Brisbane Airport on 11 March 2014. Brisbane has the third
highest number of domestic connections in Australia following Sydney and
Melbourne. It is also home to Qantas' 767-300 and A330 heavy maintenance
facility. Virgin Australia has a smaller maintenance facility at the Airport,
where line-maintenance on the Airline's 737 fleet is performed. Other airlines,
namely QantasLink, and Alliance Airlines also conduct maintenance at their
respective facilities at the Airport. The airport has international and
domestic passenger terminals, a cargo terminal, a general aviation terminal
and apron as well as two runways. Brisbane Airport is accessible from the
central business district by the Gateway Motorway and the Airtrain rail service,
which is linked to the Queensland Rail City network. The new Airport Link
motorway now connects the Brisbane CBD and the airport.
History = Eagle Farm Airport=
Brisbane's first airport was Eagle Farm Airport that was built in 1925 on former
agricultural land in the suburb of Eagle Farm located 6 km north-east of Brisbane
or 5 km south-west of Brisbane Airport's Domestic Terminal. Although Qantas
started operations there in 1926, most of the flights in Brisbane operated at
the Archerfield Airport, which contained a superior landing surface. While in
operation, Charles Kingsford Smith landed there on 9 June 1928, after
completing the first trans-pacific flight in his Fokker F.VII, the Southern
Cross. There is now a museum containing the original aircraft, along with a
memorial located within the Brisbane Airport precinct.
During the Second World War, Brisbane was the headquarters of the Supreme
Commander of Allied forces in the South West Pacific Area, General Douglas
MacArthur. The United States armed forces upgraded the airfield to cater
for military flights, bringing it to such a standard that it became the main
civilian airport for the city. By the 1970s it was clear that the
facilities at Eagle Farm Airport were inadequate for a city of Brisbane's size
and anticipated growth. Many long-haul international services to Asia were
required to make an en route stop, disadvantaging the city to lure
prospective carriers and business opportunities.
The TAA and Ansett domestic terminals at Eagle Farm Airport were reached from
Lamington Avenue, near the Doomben Racecourse. The main runway ran from
there to the north-east, and its north-east end survives as taxiway Papa
of the present airport. The international terminal was in the
earlier years, on the same apron as the domestic terminals, but in 1975 a new
terminal was built near the other end of the runway, and was used for the next
twenty years. This terminal is now the cargo terminal.
Eagle Farm Airport's runways were: Main Runway 04/22 2,365 m × 60 m and
secondary runway 1,539 m × 30 m, in a T-shape, with the main runway roughly
parallel to the river. The main runway had a full parallel taxiway, runway edge
lighting was provided on all runways, T-VASIS lighting on runways 04 and 22,
and high intensity Calvert white precision approach lighting on runway
22. Navigation aids were a VOR/DME beacon, a NDB, and an instrument landing
system category one on runway 22. 2,421,109 passengers used the airport in
1977.. Much of the old Eagle Farm Airport disappeared under the Gateway
Motorway. = 1988 Opening=
The Federal Government announced the construction of Brisbane Airport to be
built immediately north east of Eagle Farm Airport. The new airport was built
by Leighton Holdings and opened in 1988 with a new domestic terminal and two
runways. The new airport was built on the former Brisbane residential suburb
of Cribb Island that was demolished to make way for the airport. Large amounts
of sand were pumped from nearby Moreton Bay to raise the swamp land above the
tidal range. The 1988 facilities included: a domestic
terminal; state-of-the-art maintenance facilities; freight apron at the
existing passenger terminal; a 3500-metre and 1700 metre runways) with
parallel taxiway systems; access roads; parking facilities and a 75 m tall Air
traffic control tower. In 1995 the current international
terminal opened, and it has been expanded since that time.
= Privatisation= In 1997, as part of the privatisation of
numerous Australian airports, the airport was acquired for $1.4 billion
from the Federal Airports Corporation by Brisbane Airport Corporation under a
50-year lease. Since that time, BAC has assumed ultimate responsibility for the
operations of Brisbane Airport including all airport infrastructure investment
with no government funding. BAC's shareholders are major Australian and
international organisations and significant institutional investors.
Approximately 80 per cent of BAC shareholders are Australian "mums and
dads" with their savings invested in superannuation and other funds. Brisbane
Airport is categorised as a Leased Federal Airport.
Terminals Brisbane Airport has two passenger
terminals. = International terminal=
The international terminal was built in 1995 and has 12 bays with aerobridges,
two of these are capable of handling A380s. There are also four layover bays.
The terminal has four levels: level 1 houses airlines, baggage handlers and
tourism operators, level 2 handles arrivals, Level 3 houses the departure
lounge, and level 4 houses departure check-in.
The airport contains an Emirates Airline first class lounge, the first outside
Dubai that has direct access to the A380 aerobridges, and also has Air New
Zealand, Qantas and Singapore Airlines lounges.
There is also a five-storey long term carpark and a smaller short term carpark
within close proximity to the terminal. The international terminal redevelopment
began in February 2014. The A$45 million redevelopment is designed by Brisbane
architectural practices Richards and Spence and Arkhefield. Queensland
artists, Sebastian Moody and Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori,
have been commissioned for the artworks. The works are scheduled for completion
in mid-2015. = Domestic terminal=
Brisbane Airport's domestic terminal is a two-storey curved building with three
complete satellite arms extending beyond the building providing additional
passenger lounge and gate facilities for airlines.
The domestic terminal has three distinct areas serving Qantas and Qantaslink at
the northern end of the building and Virgin Australia at the southern end of
the building with other carriers such as Jetstar, Tiger Airways and JetGo are
located in the central area of the terminal.
The Qantas concourse has 9 bays served by aerobridges including one served by a
dual bridge. It has three lounges – the Qantas Club, Business Class and
chairman's Lounge. Virgin Australia occupies what was the former Ansett
Australia end of the terminal. Its concourse has 11 parking bays, six of
which are served by aerobridges. It has one lounge – the Virgin Australia Lounge
which is located in the former Golden Wing Club opposite Gate 41.
Remote bays are located to the north and south of the building, and in the
central area. On 27 February 2014, Qantas announced it
had disposed of its long-term lease at the domestic terminal which was due to
expire on 30 December 2018. Under the new arrangements, Qantas would retain
exclusive use and operational control over much of the northern end of the
terminal until the end of 2018 while securing rights to key infrastructure
beyond this period. In addition, BAC plans to make a
significant investment in upgrading and improving facilities and services within
the terminal, such as lounges and will assume control of the retail space of
this part of the terminal. = Hawker Pacific private flight
facility= Located on the south-eastern side of the
airport, the Hawker Pacific private flight facility handles private flights,
VIP aircraft movements, and Alliance Airlines departures.
Airlines and destinations Notes^1 These flights may make an
intermediate stop en route to and/or from their listed final destination;
however the airlines have no traffic rights to carry passengers solely
between Brisbane and the intermediate Australian stop.^2 Services operated
under contract to the Government of Queensland
= Cargo services= The following airlines operate scheduled
cargo flights from Brisbane. All cargo services operate from the freight
terminal. = Emergency services=
Royal Flying Doctor Service Prospective flights
Batik Air has signalled that Brisbane may be the second port it serves after
Perth with services to Denpasar/Bali Cebu Pacific is interested in commencing
flights to Brisbane or Melbourne Indonesia AirAsia X is said to be
interested in starting flights to Brisbane
Japan Airlines is said to be considering re-opening flights to Brisbane
LAN Airlines is interested in expanding services to Australia, with Brisbane
services under consideration Regional Express has flagged possibility
of flights between Brisbane and Armidale Vietnam Airlines is expected to commence
services to Brisbane sometime between 2015 and 2020
Transport = Motorised transport=
Brisbane Airport has 4 car-parks, all operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There are 2 multi-level undercover car parks, the international, providing
short and long term services, and the domestic also provides long and short
term parking. Qantas and Virgin Australia also offer Valet Parking at
the domestic terminal only. The total car spaces to 9,000. Including in
domestic parking is also a valet service with full car wash and cleaning
services. = Rail=
The airport has two railway stations as part of a privately owned airport rail
line. The international terminal railway station is elevated and located next to
the international terminal, as is the domestic railway station. Both stations
are privately owned and operated by the Airtrain consortium. As a result, fares
are more expensive than a regular suburban ticket however less than half
the taxi fare. The Airtrain travels via the Citytrain suburban network to
Fortitude Valley and Brisbane CBD, with most trains continuing to the Gold Coast
via South Bank. Trains operate between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm, with services
running every 30 minutes or 15 minutes in peak times.
= Inter-terminal bus= There is an inter-terminal bus
connecting the two terminals and the nearby Skygate shopping precinct, DFO
and Novotel hotel. Services run between 5:00 am and 11:00 pm for terminal
transfers, and 6:00 am to 6:00 pm for the DFO shopping precinct.
Development projects = New parallel runway=
On 18 September 2007, the federal government granted approval for the
construction of a new parallel runway. The proposed $1.3 billion, 3,300 m
runway will take approximately eight years to construct and is being built on
swamp land 2 kilometres west of the current terminal area and parallel to
the existing main runway. The long construction period is due to the
settling period of the 13 million cubic metres of sand fill that is to be
dredged from Moreton Bay. In early December 2014 the delivery of 11 million
cubic metres of sand to the site was completed.
= Road infrastructure= To help relieve congestion between
Brisbane and the airport, the Queensland Government, Brisbane City Council, and a
Thiess/John Holland Group/Macquarie Bank consortium built the Airport Link
project. It includes the longest tunnel in Australia; 6 lanes) from the
interchange between the Inner City Bypass and Clem Jones Tunnel to the
Airport Flyover over an improved Gateway Overpass which leads on to Airport
Drive, cutting 16 sets of traffic lights. It was completed in mid-2012.
The new Northern Access Road project, completed in December 2009, is expected
to dramatically reduce traffic congestion on Airport Drive. Moreton
Drive, the 5 km, multi-lane road network, linking Gateway Motorway with
the airport terminals, provides airport users with a second major access route
to terminals and on-airport businesses. = Cycling Network=
Brisbane Airport has cycling and pedestrian connections connecting to the
Moreton Bay Bikeway network. Operations
Brisbane has had terminal modifications to accommodate the Airbus A380. The A380
first arrived in Australia at Brisbane on 14 November 2005. The first passenger
Airbus A380 arrived at Brisbane on 8 November 2010, when Emirates service
EK413 travelling from Auckland to Sydney diverted due to poor weather in Sydney.
Emirates now flies daily A380 flights from Dubai, and onwards to Auckland. The
Emirates Lounge in Brisbane has a custom aerobridge, linking the lounge with the
A380's top deck. Occasional diversions are also seen by Qantas and Singapore
Airlines, from Sydney and Melbourne Airports.
= Brisbane Centre= The Brisbane FIR consists of New South
Wales north of Sydney, all of Queensland, most of the Northern
Territory and the northern half of Western Australia. It also contains the
Australian Tasman Sea airspace. Brisbane Centre is located adjacent to Brisbane
Tower at Brisbane Airport. It also contains Brisbane Approach.
Due to the nature of the airspace it controls most international flights in
and out of Australia, and domestic flights operating to airports within the
FIR. From Brisbane Centre, Airservices Australia manages the airspace over the
northern half of Australia, representing 5 per cent of the world's total
airspace. As only two of eight capitals are located in the Brisbane FIR, it
handles a lesser volume of traffic than Melbourne Centre. However, Sydney is on
the border of the two FIRs, and thus Brisbane Centre has control of flights
arriving or departing in Sydney from the North.
Traffic and statistics Brisbane Airport's annual passenger
numbers are expected to reach more than 25.6 million by 2015 and around 50
million by 2035 Brisbane Airport recorded more than 18.5 million
passengers in 2007–08. 4.1 million of those were international, with the
remaining 14.4 million being domestic Awards
Brisbane Airport has won a number of awards; including being rated as
Australia's No. 1 airport for quality of service 10 years in a row in a survey by
the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and being ranked as 3rd Best
Airport in the world. The international terminal won the Queensland architecture
award. In 2005 Brisbane Airport was awarded the IATA Eagle Award, the second
of only two Australian airports to receive such an award.
Accidents and incidents On 15 February 2012, a Toll Aviation
Fairchild Metro III freighter came to rest on its fuselage about 2.30 am.
Neither of the two pilots were injured. The landing gear on the light plane
failed to go down during testing after maintenance.
Notes Alternative Airports to Brisbane Airport
Sunshine Coast Airport Gold Coast Airport
Toowoomba Airport Ballina/Byron Gateway Airport
Lismore Airport See also
Brisbane Airport a suburb of Brisbane Transport in Australia
United States Army Air Forces in Australia
List of airports in Queensland References
External links Brisbane Airport official website
Brisbane Airport Retail Management Division
Review of the international terminal on LateDeparture.com