Canberra Airport in Australia has announced its plans to resume operations seven days a week, starting 3 October.
The move follows the airport’s efforts to meet the increase in demand following the reopening of the South Australian and Queensland borders.
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The airport, which suffered a 98% downturn in passengers in the wake of the pandemic, expects the border reopening to boost its business restart.
Canberra Airport CEO Stephen Byron said that last week was an important milestone for the business and signifies a restart for the industry.
Byron said: “Our airline partners have responded quickly, and you will see the doubling of services to Brisbane by the end of the week, and for the first time Qantas will operate between Canberra and the Gold Coast with four flights a week.
“We’ve already seen the positive effects on the businesses at the airport. There was a buzz in the airport terminal this morning, and it was our busiest Monday for months.
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By GlobalData“The café will be able to open longer hours and reemploy more staff, the taxi and Uber drivers will be able to pick up more fares, and we will all be reconnecting more families, friends and enabling more face-to-face business meetings.”
Canberra Airport is planning to introduce additional domestic destinations in the coming weeks. It is in talks with several airlines that are currently not in operation at the airport.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Melbourne Airport reported a 98.8% traffic decline in August 2020 compared with the passenger volume in August 2019.
The airport revealed that only 36,471 people travelled through Melbourne’s international gateway during the month, largely owing to the Covid-19-related restriction measures placed by the Victorian Government.
These included the introduction of a night-time curfew and a 5km travel limit as part of the state’s Stage 4 restrictions.
The coronavirus cases in the state have significantly dropped and the airport is hoping for an ease in the border closure international arrivals ban imposed on Melbourne.
