Attracting Aviation Investment Fund

About the fund

On 11 February 2022, the Queensland Government announced a partnership with the private sector to invest $200 million. The investment will secure more direct international flights into Queensland, to rebuild our international visitor economy.

Objectives

The fund will provide:

• more seats
• more visitors and international students
• increased overnight visitor expenditure
• support for more jobs
• additional freight capacity for our produce and other exports.

Private sector partnership

The Queensland Government is providing $100 million into the fund, which at a minimum will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the private sector.

The focus is to create and fund Queensland’s integrated aviation attraction strategy, where government, airports, airlines, marketing bodies, and other private sector entities work together.

Applications

Applications for funding are considered on the merits of the route and how it meets the fund’s mandatory criteria.

Routes for consideration must demonstrate:

• How the route will grow visitation from priority source markets – markets that are forecast to deliver above average growth in visitor expenditure in Queensland – and be linked to the Aviation Framework 2018-2025
• Growth and long-term sustainability
• How the government’s potential commitment leverages contributions from other partners to match funding requested
• How the proposed route supports other opportunities and beneficiaries, including tourism, exports, airfreight, international education, trade and investment.

Mandatory criteria

The application will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Strategic Investment – must represent a strategic benefit to Queensland’s aviation development and the Queensland economy.
• Value for money – must represent the best value for money, achieving the greatest outcome at the least cost and risk to taxpayers.
• Performance based – must demonstrate strong accountability safeguards to ensure risk is managed appropriately.
• Evidence based – the route development proposal must justify the amount of support requested and methodology and data must be clearly outlined.
• Matched funding – only proposals which have matched industry funding will be considered.
• Incentivises viability, sustainability and growth – new or expanded services and long-term sustainability from key markets.

Roles and responsibilities

• Airports are primarily responsible for initiating new route development proposals, with regular dialogue between airports, the department and Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) regarding new route priorities.
• The department will work with airports to consider alignment of a new or expanded route to the fund criteria and discuss any potential issues.
• The department and TEQ will work with airports to consider the level and type of marketing for the route development proposal.
• The airport will usually be the proponent under the fund, working in partnership with airlines and industry partners.
• Equality of opportunity – all Queensland airports with international flight capability are eligible to prepare a route development proposal.
• Merit based assessment – applications will be assessed on merit against the fund’s eligibility criteria and other submissions.
• Confidentiality – the department and TEQ will respect and protect the confidentiality of discussions with airports.

Supported services

Resumed and new services secured as part of the fund include:

• United Airlines - San Francisco to Brisbane - three services per week growing to daily
• Scoot - Singapore to Gold Coast - three services per week
• Jetstar - Narita to Gold Coast - three services per week
• Air Canada - Vancouver to Brisbane - four services per week growing to daily
• Qatar - Doha to Brisbane - seven services per week
• Qantas Haneda/Narita to Brisbane - three services per week growing to daily
• China Airlines - Taipei to Brisbane - four services per week growing to daily
• EVA - Taipei to Brisbane - four services per week growing to six per week
• Virgin Australia - Haneda to Cairns - seven services per week
• AirAsia X - Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast - three services per week growing to five per week
• Qantas - Auckland to Brisbane - daily services growing to 14 per week
• Jetstar - Auckland to Brisbane - four services per week
• Qantas - Christchurch to Brisbane - four services per week growing to daily
• Air New Zealand - Auckland to Gold Coast - daily services growing to 10 per week
• Emirates - Dubai to Brisbane - daily services growing to 14 per week
• Philippine Airlines - Manila to Brisbane - five services per week
• Korean Air - Incheon to Brisbane - five services per week
• VietJet - Ho Chi Minh to Brisbane - two services per week growing to four per week
• Jetstar – Osaka to Brisbane – four services per week
• Jetstar – Incheon to Brisbane – three services per week
• Jetstar – Osaka to Cairns – three services per week growing to daily
• Jetstar – Narita to Cairns – three services per week growing to daily
• Singapore Airlines – Singapore to Cairns – increased capacity
• Cathay Pacific – Hong Kong to Brisbane four services growing to six services per week
• China Southern Airlines – Guangzhou to Brisbane – four to seven flights per week
• China Southern Airlines – Guangzhou to Brisbane – flights increase to meet holiday demand
• China Eastern Airlines – Shanghai to Brisbane – three to five flights per week

More information

For all enquiries

• Email: Aviation@dtis.qld.gov.au.