New passport control at Brisbane Airport for spring school holidays
School holiday travellers will be first to experience Brisbane Airport's new international departure journey, with a 12-lane passport control area operational from tomorrow.
The new passport control point has been relocated upstairs to Level 4 of the International Terminal, alongside the new security screening area, into a light-filled atrium. For the first time, check-in, security screening and passport control will all be located on a single convenient level. The move also paves the way for the near doubling of the duty-free retail area.
The opening comes ahead of the busy September school holidays, with more than 1.8 million passengers expected to pass through Brisbane Airport between Friday 18 September and Monday 12 October.
International travel is forecast to be up by 6.1% on the same period last year, with Queenslanders heading off on overseas trips to destinations such as Japan, China, Europe and North America, as well as tropical favourites like Bali, Fiji and Vanuatu.
Monday 5 October, which falls on the public holiday and NRL Grand Final long weekend, is forecast to be the busiest day of the holidays and the second busiest day on record for Brisbane Airport with 84,100 passengers expected across both terminals.
Brisbane Airport Executive General Manager Aviation Ryan Both said the relocation of passport control would allow for a simpler, faster and more intuitive passenger journey.
"No one wants a stressful start to their holiday, which is why we're excited to open this new passport control facility before the school holiday rush.
"Passengers can now move seamlessly from security screening to passport control in one streamlined journey, making it easier to get from kerbside to gate.
"It's another milestone in the transformation of our International Terminal and comes at the perfect time, just as thousands of families prepare to head overseas for the holidays, and thousands of visitors arrive to experience Queensland.
“Traffic around the terminals, parking, check-in, bag drop and security screening will all be busier than usual, so arriving the normal 90 minutes before a domestic flight and three hours before an international service remains important.”
Brisbane Airport is now connected to 35 international destinations and 63 domestic destinations and welcomed a record 25 million passengers in the past year. It's currently investing $5 billion to transform its precinct over the next five years as part of the Future BNE program.
