The Gold Coast Airport has recorded the busiest September’s in its history after a bumper school holiday period.
More than 560,000 passengers travelled through the Coolangatta terminal during September, which is a 10% boost on figures from the same time last year.
A further 200,000 passengers are estimated to have passed through in the first two weeks of October.
Queensland Airports Chief Operating Officer Marion Charlton says several things have helped drive the numbers up.
“The Queensland and New South Wales school holidays, the King’s Birthday long weekend, and three Grand Finals have all boosted travel,” Ms Charlton says.
“Typically, during holiday periods we see a few peak days followed by quieter periods, but these holidays we had day after day consistently exceeding 20,000 passengers, which is incredibly strong,
“We also saw the Gold Coast continue to be a top holiday destination for travellers with 13,600 more passengers arriving than departing.”
The busiest day for the airport over the holidays was right before the King’s Birthday long weekend on Friday 3 October, when over 23,000 people travelled through Coolangatta.
Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn has welcomed the boost to tourism.
“It’s fantastic to see our airport so busy, proof the Gold Coast continues to be one of Australia’s must-visit holiday destinations,” Mr Warn says.
“The picture-perfect spring weather definitely contributed to the bumper holiday crowds we saw across the Gold Coast with occupancy sitting at over 80% across the three weeks and visitors out enjoying the best of what our city has to offer, including our beaches, nature-based experiences, theme parks, cafés and restaurants.”
