Australia’s Queensland airports mine the resources boom

The mining resources sector has boosted demand to many regional airports, among them two airport groups in Queensland, Australia which have experienced significant growth in the decade since the start of the mining boom. Queensland Airports and North Queensland Airports operate four ports in the state including strategic gateways of Cairns, Gold Coast and Mackay. The state capital city's Brisbane Airport is separately owned and run.

But high maintenance costs associated with ageing airport infrastructure combined with various government taxes and airport fees often result in high fares and a challenging environment for airlines to generate demand from many regional ports.

However, a pending capacity battle between Tigerair Australia and Jetstar may bring some pricing relief on larger regional routes.