Published Thursday, 28 February, 2008 at 02:01 PM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Outback flying high on domestic airline seat increase
Domestic airline capacity to Queensland’s Outback has expanded over the past 12 months with an extra 675 seats a week now coming into the region, Tourism and Regional Development Minister Desley Boyle announced today.
In Parliament this week, Ms Boyle welcomed the increase to 3860 inbound domestic seats per week, saying it was great news for Mount Isa, Emerald, Longreach and Roma.
Member for Mount Isa Betty Kiernan welcomed the news.
“These latest figures, in which almost 700 additional airline seats were available to Queensland Outback is terrific news,” Mrs Kiernan said.
“These figures are testament to the effort and innovation put into growing capacity in the region by airlines and Tourism Queensland.
“In the past year, Mount Isa posted a 26 per cent increase largely due to an increase in the number of Qantas services from Brisbane, and there is only more great news to come,” Mrs Kiernan said.
Ms Boyle said: “We have welcomed more capacity to Emerald, with the airport experiencing a 15 per cent capacity increase due to more QantasLink services from Brisbane.
“At the same time, Longreach celebrated a whopping 41 per cent jump thanks to the use of larger aircraft on QantasLink services from Brisbane, while Roma enjoyed an 18 per cent increase due to a rise in the frequency of QantasLink flights from Brisbane.”
Ms Boyle said QantasLink had recently placed a $400 million order for 12 additional Q400 turboprop aircraft with options and purchase rights taken for another 24 Q400s.
“We are hopeful some of these aircraft will be deployed on regional Queensland routes upon delivery from 2010,” she said.
“There has never been a more competitive and yet more exciting time to be involved in the aviation and tourism industries in Queensland.
"While there has been a softening of growth in international tourism recently, the continued growth of domestic tourism particularly in regional Queensland is very encouraging."
Ends
Media contact: 3224 2007 or 3225 1005
Tourism Queensland: 3535 5010
28 February 2008
In Parliament this week, Ms Boyle welcomed the increase to 3860 inbound domestic seats per week, saying it was great news for Mount Isa, Emerald, Longreach and Roma.
Member for Mount Isa Betty Kiernan welcomed the news.
“These latest figures, in which almost 700 additional airline seats were available to Queensland Outback is terrific news,” Mrs Kiernan said.
“These figures are testament to the effort and innovation put into growing capacity in the region by airlines and Tourism Queensland.
“In the past year, Mount Isa posted a 26 per cent increase largely due to an increase in the number of Qantas services from Brisbane, and there is only more great news to come,” Mrs Kiernan said.
Ms Boyle said: “We have welcomed more capacity to Emerald, with the airport experiencing a 15 per cent capacity increase due to more QantasLink services from Brisbane.
“At the same time, Longreach celebrated a whopping 41 per cent jump thanks to the use of larger aircraft on QantasLink services from Brisbane, while Roma enjoyed an 18 per cent increase due to a rise in the frequency of QantasLink flights from Brisbane.”
Ms Boyle said QantasLink had recently placed a $400 million order for 12 additional Q400 turboprop aircraft with options and purchase rights taken for another 24 Q400s.
“We are hopeful some of these aircraft will be deployed on regional Queensland routes upon delivery from 2010,” she said.
“There has never been a more competitive and yet more exciting time to be involved in the aviation and tourism industries in Queensland.
"While there has been a softening of growth in international tourism recently, the continued growth of domestic tourism particularly in regional Queensland is very encouraging."
Ends
Media contact: 3224 2007 or 3225 1005
Tourism Queensland: 3535 5010
28 February 2008