)
The Gold Coast Airport recorded its strongest April in history for passenger numbers, supported by a growing number of international passengers.
The timing of Easter and school holidays added to the boost, which was also felt across the whole network of Queensland Airports Limited (QAL).
QAL experienced a 7 per cent growth (year on year) in domestic traffic and attracting 8.2 million passengers across all its airports including Gold Coast, Townsville, Mount Isa and Longreach.
Despite the fallout from ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie in March, the Gold Coast and Townsville markets performed particularly well, attracting a 7.5 per cent and 6.4 per cent passenger growth respectively.
QAL CEO Chris Mills says these numbers reflect the strength of leisure markets across the state.
"The Gold Coast continues to show why it is the destination of choice for Australians and international visitors alike," says Mills.
"We saw close to 10 per cent growth in international passengers, assisted by Hong Kong Airlines increasing capacity and the addition of more services to Kuala Lumpur with AirAsia X.
"It was also good to see Townsville's strong numbers with a 6.4 per cent increase in passengers, boosted by significant growth on the Sydney route in particular."
Townsville was also buoyed by Air Niugini's introduction of services to Port Moresby, which commenced a bi-weekly service in late March.
The Mount Isa market also saw a modest growth of 1.7 per cent amid challenging conditions for the resource sector.
QAL continues to work on its capital investment program across all ports, which includes civil construction on Project LIFT for the Gold Coast and a $10 million expansion of the apron at Townsville.
Never miss a story: Sign up to Business News Australia's free news updates.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram
Get our daily business news
Sign up to our free email news updates.
)
)
)
)
)
