Host Welcome | Brisbane Airport

Transcript

Gert-Jan de Graaff:Good morning. Before I welcome all of you, I would like to thank and acknowledge Billy for his very special Welcome to Country. There's always something in a Welcome to Country you learn, and I was very impressed today. And I'd like to extend my respects to the Turrbal and Yuggera people, the First Nations people present here today, and the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and where we will meet over the next 2 days for the CAPA 2023. Well, good morning everyone. To our distinguished guests, our industry colleagues from all across the world, to our airline and aviation partners, Welcome to Brisbane. After last night's event, I took a taxi home, had a glass of wine or two, and what do you do in a taxi? You have a bit of a chat with the driver. Hey, busy tonight? That sort of stuff. I know we all do the same. And second question, where are you from? And my taxi driver was from Somalia, and I'm from the Netherlands. And by the way, My name was extremely well pronounced today. That doesn't happen often, I have to say. But then chat with the driver, and his life story was very different from mine. But there was definitely one thing we agreed upon, and that's how great Brisbane is. What a fantastic city this is. You probably spent a little bit of time outside this morning. Well, that's our typical winter day, and it only gets better. than that. It's a prosperous city, it's a happy city, it's an optimistic city, and we're definitely in the driver's seat to make this city even better than it is today. As much of the world— by the way, we also agreed, the taxi driver and myself, that this is a city that's difficult to explain but very easy to experience. I've never met anyone who went to Brisbane and said, oh, that was disappointing. No. It's always better than you expect, so thank you for all those people that are here for the first time because I know you will be back. As much of the world is recognizing, Brisbane is a city alive with opportunity. As this city grows, the population growth and the Olympic and Paralympic promotional machine springs to life, our city will take its place on the world stage. And now, about 100 years after Brisbane's first airfield opened, Brisbane Airport is also embarking on its next great transformation to support the growth of our region. With more than $5 billion of investment planned in a 3rd passenger terminal, major refurbishments to our existing terminals, the region's best-connected commercial land, and much, much more, Brisbane Airport is truly connecting the world and creating the future, as you could see in the video. Connecting Queenslanders to the rest of the world is the challenge we proudly take on every day. Our passion and commitment to this mission has made Brisbane Airport Queensland's gateway. But we do much more than just connect people. We help shape this state of Queensland. Brisbane Airport is preparing for sustainable growth to meet demands of our growing city. This includes welcoming 30 million passengers by 2032, when we have the Olympics and Paralympics here, and even 60 million in 2050. Today, more than 425 businesses and their 24,000 employees call Brisbane Airport their home. That makes it one of the top single-site employment hubs in the country. Contributing nearly $5 billion to Queensland's GDP. Those 24,000 jobs, and that's more than the entire population of a city like Mount Isa in this state, means almost 1 in every 50 workers in this city actually have their employment at the airport. I think that's an incredible number. And by 2050, more than 60,000 people will work, will work at the airport. And that's almost the size of a city like Rockhampton, which is a sizable city in Queensland as well. Brisbane Airport plays a critical role in industries that are essential to the state of Queensland, including tourism, resources and mining, agriculture, aquaculture, healthcare, communications and defence. There is no trade without transport, and it's our connectivity to all parts of the country and the world that makes trade possible. However, Brisbane Airport is much more than just about the economy. It's the place that makes it possible for millions of people to easily explore this country and the rest of the world, to stay connected to their family and friends, and to pursue their dreams. We love what we do because we know it matters. Every day, the Brisbane Airport team runs the airport, But we don't do that alone. Brisbane Airport is powered by partnerships, many of those represented in the audience today. Hundreds of other companies than Brisbane Airport Corporation and their thousands of staff work with us to make sure our runways, airspace, terminals, roads, car parks, security screenings, shops and lounges are working efficiently and safely. From creating jobs to building opportunities for our community and fostering cultural and social expansion, we thrive in the knowledge that we are the enabler of economic, social, and cultural life in this region. We are creating a bright future for everyone. Future BNE is the term we use to describe the next decade of transformation of the airport. We will invest $5 billion but other companies will invest in that development as well. This will be the most exciting period in our airport's history. Between now and 2032, the population of Queensland will soar with 16% to just north of 6 million people. And for the first time ever, most Queenslanders will call Greater Brisbane, this city, their home. In the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, The nation and the world will invest in our region at a rate never seen before. New infrastructure and region-wide projects will supercharge the economy, and city-changing projects will exponentially improve how we live. And the necessity of conducting our business more sustainably and protecting our environment will become more urgent. For a quarter of a century, BIC has been on a journey of constantly improving as we strive to provide a sustainable value for everyone, to meet society's expectations and our own ambitions for Brisbane Airport. This includes receiving Australia's first Green Star Communities rating, being the first Australian airport to commit to a Reconciliation Action Plan, and much, much more. Our many achievements have provided a solid foundation for future success. We are accelerating our key targets, including becoming a net-zero airport for Scope 1 and 2 by 2025. We do that through a broad range of initiatives, all while providing a clear roadmap for the decades ahead. We are forward-looking, but it all comes down to our everyday commitment to making Brisbane Airport the best it can be. Our sustainability strategy recognises that sustainability is essential for Brisbane Airport because it enables long-term responsible growth, which is key to delivering value to our communities, our customers, our employees and our shareholders. As we look forward toward capturing the opportunities for the future, sustainability will be at the forefront of both our planning and our actions, including our Future BNE transformational program. However, Future BNE is not one project. It's a series of major projects, and some of them are the most exciting in our history and providing new opportunities. We'll upgrade both the existing domestic and international terminals, introducing the latest generation of security and improving the check-in and screening process for anyone. And the shopping and dining experience in both terminals will be transformed as well. Other aviation projects will see the expansion of aircraft parking and aprons, the scheduled overlay of our legacy runway, and the construction of a state-of-the-art aeromedical facility to centralise medical repatriation and emergency services at Brisbane Airport for the Queensland region. We will continue to make Brisbane Airport a very attractive hub by delivering a diverse mix of businesses, entertainment, and experiences for locals and visitors. Brisbane Airport is investing now because we need to be ready for growth. We aspire to make travel faster, easier, and safer, and we have the ambition to be the greenest airport in Australia, ready for the next generation of air travel. Together with our partners, we are ready To connect the world and create a future. Pretty good news on another front as well. We were a little bit afraid in the recent past that our airline partners from mainland China were forgetting us, and therefore I have a bit of scoop today for everyone in this room. Yesterday it was announced that China Southern Airlines. Will not only return to Brisbane Airport, as they informed us before, but will fly daily from the high season later this year to and from Guangzhou. And the scoop for today is that China Eastern will announce in about 2 minutes from now that they will be returning to Brisbane Airport and will fly daily to Shanghai. That is fantastic news. As I said before, we were afraid that they were forgotten, that they had forgotten us. It's good to see they're returning. It was always our second international market from Brisbane and the most important inbound tourism market, so it's fantastic to welcome our Chinese visitors back. And to restore the trade connections with mainland China. So thank you very much, both China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. Of course, I'm way over time, so I will close this off. And finally, before I hand over to our Federal Tourism Minister for his official welcome, I would like to thank all of those who have joined us here from all parts of the world. into the Sunshine State, as we call Queensland. Um, to the team at CAPA, we're thrilled to be hosting this event in 2023, and we look forward to a conference of great discussion, positive partnerships, and optimism for the future of our industry. Thank you very much.

Copyright policy: All transcripts on this site are the copyright of CAPA - Centre for Aviation. Our reproduction policy is as follows: you may quote up to 400 words of any transcript on the condition that you attribute the transcript to CAPA - Centre for Aviation and link to the original video page. All other use is prohibited. While we aim for 100% accuracy in the transcript, there may be some minor transcribing errors.