Canberra Airport is planning to return to seven-days-a-week operation from Saturday 3 October to cater for the increase in demand amid the South Australian and Queensland border reopenings.
Canberra Airport welcomed the border announcements last week, which come as the business recovers from a 98% downturn in passengers since the beginning of COVID-19 restrictions in March.
Canberra Airport CEO Stephen Byron said the business had responded to the announcements promptly, increasing and introducing flights for the travel bubbles.
“Our airline partners have responded quickly, and you will see the doubling of services to Brisbane by the end of the week, and for the first time Qantas will operate between Canberra and the Gold Coast with four flights a week,” he said.
“We’ve already seen the positive effects on the businesses at the airport – there was a buzz in the airport terminal this morning (Monday 21 September), and it was our busiest Monday for months.”
The airport dropped to six days’ operation from 22 August due to lack of demand and had previously stated it needed domestic travel restarted from 1 October to avoid further shutdowns.
Decisions to open the Queensland and South Australian borders to ACT residents came within three day of each other last week, with the South Australian Government announcing its borders would be open to NSW residents from Thursday (24 September).
The Queensland Government has announced it will open its borders to some northern NSW residents.
While the Canberra Airport may ask travellers for relevant documentation, Mr Byron said States and Territories would be enforcing their own restrictions.
“All travellers will need to have the required documentation and approvals before arriving at the airport,” he said.
“Travellers may be prompted by airline staff for documentation, but ultimately each State and Territory will be checking travellers as they enter their jurisdiction.
“If ACT residents are not sure about what documentation is required for Queensland and SA please head to our website.”
In response to demand from Canberra, there will be eight flights to Adelaide, 17 flights to Brisbane and seven flights to the Gold Coast per week.
Canberra Airport is planning to launch new domestic destinations in the coming weeks and is in discussions with several airlines currently not in operation at the airport.
Mr Byron said today’s news would allow the airport to re-employ more staff, although exact numbers could not be confirmed until next week.
“The café will be able to open longer hours and re-employ more staff, the taxi and Uber drivers will be able to pick up more fares, and we will all be reconnecting more families, friends and enabling more face-to-face business meetings,” he said.
“Now’s the time to re-boot your travel plans and have a break and support domestic tourism. We’ve all had a horror year, but there are some exciting announcements over the coming weeks,” Mr Byron said.
For more information on how the Canberra Airport is working to keep passengers safe during and beyond COVID-19 go to online.
For more information on the current domestic travel restrictions go to
canberraairport.com.au/covid-19-latest-traveller-advice/.
