Brisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport, IATA code BNE, is Australia's biggest airport by land area and the third busiest by aircraft movements and passenger numbers, with over 22.5 million people passing through the airport in 2016.
The majority of the traffic is internal, with over 3,000 flights a week to and from fifty domestic destinations. The airport has an average of over 600 international flights per week between twenty-nine destinations. The most international arrivals are from New Zealand, China, the USA, the UK and India. The airport operates twenty-four hours a day.
Terminal Buildings and Facilities
The airport has separate terminals for domestic and international flights. They are 4 km apart; however, there are various shuttle services between the two terminals.
- International Terminal - The international terminal has four levels. Level two is for arrivals, level three has the departures lounge and level four is the departures check-in area. There are twelve gates with air bridges, two of which can handle the double-deck Airbus A380. There are twenty-seven shops and fourteen bars, restaurants, cafés and fast food outlets.
- Domestic Terminal - The two-storey domestic terminal has arrivals on level one and departures on level two. The terminal has three satellites housing additional boarding gates and lounge facilities. There are twenty-eight gates with air bridges. Twenty-nine shops are available selling a variety of goods and thirty food and drink outlets.
Free Wi-Fi is available throughout both terminals and there are mobile charging points. Bank cashpoints are situated at various locations on all levels and other facilities include currency exchange offices, passenger information counters, showers, baby changing rooms and first aid.
Public Transport and Parking
The airport is easy to get to and from with public transport. Trains, buses, taxis and car hire services are all available.
- Train - The Airtrain service provides the fastest way to get to the centre of Brisbane and other locations. You can also transfer between the terminals with this service. You can see train fares and routes here.
- Bus - The Con-x-ion scheduled bus transfer service connects the airport with the city centre, the cruise terminal, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. Translink offers three bus routes from the airport. Routes are prices are available here.
- Taxi - Taxi ranks are located outside the arrivals halls of both terminal buildings and the taxis operate 24 hours a day. Taxi charges are available here.
- Car Rental - The car rental desks are situated on level 2 of the international terminal and on level 1 of the domestic terminal. More information is available here.
There is a multi-storey car park a short walk from the international terminal and two at the domestic terminal offering short and long-term parking, premium and valet services and a guaranteed space service. Find out more about parking here.
Airport History
Brisbane's first aerodrome was located at Eagle Farm in 1925 and Qantas began to operate flights from there the following year.
In 1928, the first flight to cross the Pacific Ocean landed at Eagle Farm and later that year the first solo flight from Britain to Australia was completed there. Two years later, Amy Johnson famously crashed at the airfield.
After the Second World War, the infrastructure was improved with sealed runways and better passenger facilities.
In 1969, it was decided that a new site was needed to cope with increasing passenger and freight traffic and the current location was chosen. However, it was not until 1988 that Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, opened the new Brisbane Airport.
The new international terminal was opened in 1995. It was built in a modular design to facilitate future expansion. The first terminal expansion was completed in 2008.
For the first time in 2011, the airport handled the arrival of over 20 million passengers. Since then there has been a $350 million upgrade to the facilities.
There has been a steady rise in traffic and the airport now handles in excess of 22.5 million passengers every year.