American Airlines takes flight for Brisbane

It’s the first time American Airlines will have ever flown into Brisbane, with daily services starting from Dallas Fort Worth on 27 October 2024, kicking off the northern winter season.

The flights are supported by the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, which has now supported 28 services delivering 2 million international seats and up to $1.75 billion in overnight visitor spending each year, supporting more than 20,000 jobs.

The flights will bring 141,000 seats into Queensland over three years, filled by a forecast 62,000 international visitors, who will spend up to $113 million.

Among those travelling to Queensland will be US students, who represent the tenth largest international student cohort in Queensland, which has seen numbers drop since COVID and the loss of routes serviced by Virgin and Hawaiian Airlines.

The new American Airlines flights, on a 244-seat B787-900, will create up to 690 jobs over three years, including 430 direct jobs and 260 indirect jobs.

The plane has up to 18 tonnes in freight capacity, providing a boost for Queensland exports to the US which last financial year totalled 3,903 tonnes worth $409 million.

American Airlines operates thousands of flights daily to more than 350 destinations in more than 60 countries.

Fort Worth is its largest headquarters and a gateway to other parts of the US, Canada, Europe and Latin America

The USA was Queensland’s third largest market by visitation in 2019, with 236,000 visitors, and the fourth largest by expenditure with $419 million in overnight visitor expenditure.

The new route is Brisbane Airport’s 30^th direct international connection, its 25^th international airline, and Brisbane’s longest route.

The Attracting Aviation Investment Fund also supports United Airlines flights from San Francisco which brings in another 75,000 seats to Brisbane each year.