New deal delivers extra tourists to the Sunshine State

3 million people to travel through BNE these holidays

Queensland's Attracting Aviation Investment Fund will deliver even more tourists to the Sunshine State with China Airlines of Taiwan to expand its number of services to Brisbane from Taipei and Auckland.

Currently the airline flies from Taipei to Brisbane and return three times a week. This will grow to 5 weekly services from January 1.

Flights between Auckland and Brisbane will also be boosted from 3 per week to 5 from the start of the new year.

The expansion has been secured under the $200 million joint State Government and industry Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, which was created to boost Queensland's tourism sector.

"China Airlines is a high-quality carrier with a significant worldwide network. They bring to our tourism destinations visitors from high-spending markets like Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and their home of Taiwan - all markets thirsty for quality air capacity to Queensland," according to Brisbane Airport's Executive General Manager of Aviation, Ryan Both.

This holiday period Brisbane Airport will see 3 million people pass through its terminals.

"When Brisbane Airport is busy, Queensland's tourism industry is busy too. And that's great news for jobs right across the Sunshine State," says Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff.

In 2023, China Airlines will celebrate 20 years of flights to Brisbane.

"Queensland is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Taiwan and has the largest Taiwanese community in Australia. With the Taiwan government opening up its border, China Airlines is ramping up to five flights weekly from January 2023. This will provide Queenslanders with an easy connection to nearly 150 cities around the world, including Asia, Europe and North America," according to China Airlines' Brisbane General Manager, Jonathan Shih.

Each flight will also deliver 15 tonnes of Queensland export capacity, with chilled meat currently the number one item being dispatched to Taiwan, in a further boost for regional Queensland.

From 1 January 2023, China Airlines will operate a 306-seat Airbus A350-900 serving both Brisbane-Taipei and Brisbane-Auckland routes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays.