Korean Air returns to Brisbane

KOREAN AIR BOEING 777-2B5 (MSN 27949)

Brisbane Airport has been a major beneficiary of the expansionary push by Asian carriers, with Korean Air the latest airline to announce its full time return to Australia's Sunshine State. Korean Air currently calls into Brisbane three times a week right now but will cease at the end of February.
The airport announced Korean Air will be resuming post-COVID services commencing from the 23rd of April, with an initial schedule of flights five times a week. Korean Air first flew to Brisbane 30 years ago, and the services were only suspended due to the ravages of COVID.

The resumed operations will inject an additional 89,000 inbound seats annually into the Queensland market, connecting tourists, family members and business travelers between Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN/RKSI) and Brisbane (BNE/YBBN). The airport said this would add more than AU$120 million to the local economy annually and support 1,230 direct and indirect jobs in the state.

Brisbane executive general manager of aviation Ryan Both said that South Korea is our third largest trading market and a significant technology partner in Queensland's new energy economy. He added:

"We have one of Australia's largest Korean communities who will now have a direct connection with families [and] South Korean tourists and students love coming to Queensland. Flights were of course halted due to the pandemic, and it will be great to have them back permanently."

The return of Korean Air will bring more Boeing 777 services into Brisbane, which is also welcome news for the state's extensive exports into Korea and Asia. Fleet data from ch-avitaion.com shows the airline is operating 131 of its 158 aircraft, with Boeing 777s making up around a quarter of the fleet. The Seoul-based carrier has 25 777-300ERs and ten 777-200ER passenger aircraft, with all but eight in service.

With its focus mainly on international services, Korean Air also has 29 Airbus A330s, 10 A380s and 10 Boeing 787-9s and ten 747-8s in the fleet. The short-haul flying is done using a mix of 23 Boeing 737-family aircraft, including five 737 MAX 8s and six 737-900ERs.

The resurgence of air services in and out of Queensland has been aided by the state's Attracting Aviation Investment Fund (AAIF). This is an AU$200 million fund put together by the Queensland government and the state's four international gateway airports, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Cairns and the Sunshine Coast Airport (MCY), the home of new domestic airline Bonza. The AAIF has helped secure 1.1 million inbound seats, with every additional flight adding around 20 tonnes of outbound freight capacity, creating significant opportunities for the state's exporters.

New services secured include routes from San Francisco (United Airlines), Vancouver (Air Canada), Doha (Qatar Airways), Taipei (China Airlines), Manila (Philippine Airlines), Tokyo (Qantas) and Dubai (Emirates). International travel at BNE is now back to 61% of pre-COVID levels, compared to the negligible 2% it was just one year ago.

During the December - January holiday period, 2.594 million passengers passed through the Brisbane domestic terminal, an increase of more than 1.2 million from last year. The airport said that Queensland's AU$24.5 billion ($16.9 billion) domestic visitor spend is the highest in the state's history, leading the more populated New South Wales by 1%, Victoria by 43%, and a 26% improvement on pre-pandemic levels.




Story sourced from here
Korean Air Returns To Brisbane Airport In April (simpleflying.com)