Key industry achievements in 2024 have primed Tropical North Queensland for major opportunities across tourism and freight, data shows.
Cairns Airport will close out the year with the highly anticipated return of Cathay Pacific services from December 17, rounding out a series of international milestones including the historic arrival of AirAsia Indonesia, announcement of the first-ever direct connection to Christchurch with Jetstar and resumption of seasonal China Eastern Airlines flights early in 2024.
Critically, the strong performance of Singapore Airlines’ A350 services means the widebody aircraft is scheduled to continue on the Cairns route, Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer Richard Barker said.
“Singapore Airlines’ A350 delivers significant economic opportunities to our region, injecting 23,000 extra seats per year from major international markets as well as an additional almost 2,500 tonnes of cargo capacity. Retaining a high-quality, widebody aircraft on this key route will unlock further potential for our tourism and trade industries as we head into 2025,” he said.
“This will be bolstered by the commencement of Cathay Pacific’s seasonal services, which offer direct access to Hong Kong and seamless connections to the rest of the world, along with significant opportunities for local export to Mainland China and beyond. The team at Cairns Airport has strategically targeted and delivered a number of key new routes in 2024, supported by our valued industry and government partners, and our region is poised for growth as a result.”
Mr Barker welcomed the recent pre-election commitment from the ALP of $10 million funding over four years to drive tourism.
“Bipartisan support for this initiative is crucial as our region enters this period of potential, particularly as we seek to extend seasonal carriers such as Cathay Pacific into year-round services,” he said.
It comes as data reveals a steady appetite for travel to Tropical North Queensland. Figures show visitors to the region from international markets had recovered by 62 per cent of 2019 numbers, Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen said.
“International numbers are back to 497,000 with a spend of $905.7 million in the region for the past financial year,” he said.
“Singapore Airlines was the first global carrier to return services to Cairns and the markets serviced by the Singapore Airlines connection to Cairns are showing much stronger signs of recovery. The United Kingdom is back to 99 per cent of 2019 volumes with 71,000 visitors, the United States market has returned to 79 per cent with 83,000 visitors and Continental Europe is back to 75 per cent with 119,000.”
Mr Olsen said the strong recovery in those markets followed dedicated campaign activity driven by TTNQ and Cairns Airport, in collaboration with Singapore Airlines and trade partners and supported by funding from the Federal Government’s International Tourism Recovery Program.
“In the past 12 months we generated $64 million worth of publicity across Europe, the UK and the USA. This was backed by 27 campaigns in our Western markets bringing in $33.3 million in sales and more than 36,500 visitors directly through campaigns,” he said.
“Ongoing destination marketing is vital to keep momentum going and ensure the success of international routes. Funding pledged by the ALP recently will help make that possible, and we are seeking bipartisan support to enable continued growth of tourism to Tropical North Queensland and the rest of the state.”
More than 84 per cent of international visitors arriving in Tropical North Queensland this year went on to visit multiple regions across Queensland.
International routes launched at Cairns Airport in 2024 were supported by the Queensland Government’s Attracting Aviation Investment Fund.
International Milestones 2024:
February 2024 – China Eastern Airlines commences seasonal services, the first direct flights from China for almost four years
March 2024 – Singapore Airlines launches the A350 on the Cairns route, increasing capacity by 50 per cent
June 2024 – Jetstar announces direct services between Christchurch and Cairns, to commence in April 2025
August 2024 – AirAsia Indonesia touches down for the first time, bringing affordable connections from Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and domestic Indonesia
December 2024 – Cathay Pacific to return to Cairns for seasonal services, currently scheduled until 29 March