QUEENSLAND SECURES NEW FLIGHTS FROM CHINA, MIDDLE EAST IN MASSIVE AVIATION COUP

Queensland has secured a vital foothold in the emerging Chinese and Middle Eastern aviation markets with China Eastern and Etihad airlines both confirming new flights into Brisbane today.

Tourism Minister Margaret Keech said today’s announcement was a huge win for the Queensland tourism industry and the result of hard work and persistence by the Government.

“Aviation access is vital to ensure the continued growth of international tourism in Queensland, and China and the Middle East are among our most potentially lucrative markets,” Mrs Keech said.

“It was crucial for us to gain a foothold in these markets, and securing these flights will provide an enormous boost to the state’s tourism industry and the economy overall.

Mrs Keech said Etihad would operate three flights a week from Abu Dhabi to Brisbane, via Singapore, which would provide capacity for nearly 800 inbound seats each week.

China Eastern would offer two flights per week from Shanghai to Brisbane, providing nearly 600 inbound seats each week, for four months from November, she said.

“Additional flights to our State from significant new players in the airline industry such as Etihad and China Eastern are an excellent endorsement of Queensland’s status on the world stage as a premier holiday and business destination,” Mrs Keech said.

She said China was widely recognised as one of Queensland’s biggest and most exciting emerging markets.

“It has been a long standing goal of the Beattie Government to see regular scheduled services from China to Queensland, so this is a tremendous breakthrough,” she said.

“There are so many opportunities for Queensland tourism in the China market, and giving Chinese visitors regular air services to Brisbane is a big step forward in capturing that potential.

“We hope these flights will lead to a long term commitment by China Eastern to fly into Queensland.”

Mrs Keech said the Middle East was a fast growing market, and attracting Etihad was a major win for Queensland.

“We have worked extremely hard in recent years to encourage more services from the Middle East.

“My department has worked closely with Invest Queensland, in the Department of State Development, who have done fantastic work in helping attract Etihad to Brisbane.

“Not only does this announcement from Etihad boost capacity to Queensland from the Middle East, it also provides flights from another major port in the region, on top of the existing daily services from Dubai to Brisbane by Emirates.

“Plus it gives Queensland another link for bringing in traffic from our UK and European markets.

Mrs Keech said visitation from the Middle East had increased significantly.

“The number of Middle Eastern visitors to Australia who nominated Queensland as their main State of stay was up by a tremendous 25 per cent per year over the three years to March 2007,” she said.

“Middle Eastern arrivals to Australia are forecast to increase annually by 11 per cent on average over the ten years to 2016.”

Media contact: 3225 1005