Tourism taking off with Attracting Aviation fund
Twelve months since launching the $200 million aviation war chest, the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund (AAIF) has secured up to $960 million in overnight visitor expenditure for the Queensland economy each year delivering an additional 1.1 million inbound airline seats along with 8,945 good jobs.
The nation-leading partnership with Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Cairns international airports has struck 15 deals with the aviation industry to introduce or restart services to the airports, including three new routes.
From 23 April, Korean Air will restart direct flights to Brisbane five times a week, delivering up to $120.5 million annually in overnight visitor spending and up to 1,230 good Queensland jobs.
Announced on the one-year anniversary of Queensland’s $200 million AAIF, Korean Air will land an extra 89,000 inbound seats a year in Brisbane.
Other recently secured services include:
- EVA Air – restarting four flights per week in the first year from Taipei to Brisbane, expanding to five in the second year, and six weekly services by the third year
- Philippines Air – growing to five flights per week over two years from Manilla to Brisbane
The combined $200 million investment is estimated to deliver up to 5.3 million airline seats per year, generating almost $4 billion in overnight visitor expenditure.
The one-year anniversary of the fund follows a strong holiday season for domestic tourism in Queensland with holidaymakers spending an estimated $4 billion in the State’s visitor economy with 2.5 billion visitors staying 20 million visitor nights.
Visit AAIF for more information.