Amsterdam tops up Airport flood donation
Brisbane Airport Corporation has welcomed one of the first international contributions to the Queensland flood relief effort, with one of the world’s largest airports donating $125,000 to the Premier’s Flood Appeal.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol was a foundation shareholder in Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) and remains a key partner with BAC in the exchange of people and expertise between the two airports.
Mr Nijhuis said the Amsterdam airport staff were keen to help by adding to the range of fundraising initiatives by the Brisbane Airport community.
“All employees of Schiphol Group who have colleagues and friends in Queensland and Brisbane were concerned and sympathized with everybody in your country. We have seen the pictures on television and can only imagine what it is for people to be so close to a disaster.
“We fully appreciate the way you are taking care of your people and we are happy to contribute to your fund the amount of AUD $125,000.”
BAC CEO and Managing Director Julieanne Alroe said it was a wonderful gesture that highlighted the importance of the Amsterdam-Brisbane partnership and the reverberations the floods had created around the world.
“It has been wonderful to see the strength and resilience of the Queensland citizens and this is something that is also getting great international coverage,” Ms Alroe said.
“The recovery in Brisbane at least will be quicker than we all expected last week, and while the longer task will be the repair of roads, bridges, railways and other infrastructure in regional Queensland, the spirit of community has been evident everywhere.
“A major task is to ensure that tourism does not suffer too much and tourism bodies are working to get the message out that although parts of Queensland have been flood effected, mush of the state is operating normally and places like the Barrier Reef, Cairns, the Whitsundays and the all the beach areas in the South East are open and operating normally.
“We have been talking to airlines this week and most are still optimistic about forward bookings so hopefully we will not see too much of a downturn in holiday travel.
“In fact we believe that the extent of the Government funding into recovery to infrastructure damaged around Queensland may in fact create some growth in traffic as recovery teams fly in and out of Brisbane and into regional Queensland.
“There is still a lot of work to do but given the progress to date and the generosity and goodwill shown by international friends such as Schiphol we will be back to normal and probably even better than ever very soon.”
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