Brisbane will cement its position as Australia’s biggest growth hub to the U.S., as it welcomes Delta Air Lines’ direct Los Angeles to Brisbane connection, delivering record-setting capacity and lowest airfare costs to the Sunshine State. The first flight will land in Brisbane on Friday 6 December.
Flight Centre Corporate can reveal Brisbane is leading the charge for airline seat capacity into the USA – significantly above its 2019 offering – with January 2025 set to deliver circa 125 per cent of pre-pandemic availability, compared to Sydney’s 83 per cent.
Flight Centre Corporate COO Melissa Elf said the raft of new services that have been introduced in recent years, from Brisbane between Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco, meant the Sunshine State capital was well and truly leading the charge for U.S. capacity.
“The growth rate in capacity between Brisbane and North America tells us that the need for connectivity between our two nations is at an all-time high,” Ms Elf said.
“This will be the fourth North American aviation giant to touchdown at Brisbane Airport, and for Delta, this will mark its most extensive schedule to the South Pacific in its history.
“With 31 flights to North America every week, the competition has never been so fierce, and it couldn’t be a clearer indicator of the value in connectivity for both Australians and our U.S. counterparts.
“Over 12,000 Australian companies export to the USA, and it’s our most significant trade relationship1.”
“We are over the moon that Brisbane is Delta’s second destination in Australia. The arrival of one of the world’s largest carriers speaks volumes about this city’s growing prominence as a global destination,” said Brisbane Airport CEO Gert Jan de Graaff.
Flight Centre Travel Group’s corporate brands, which include FCM Travel, Corporate Traveller, and Stage & Screen, saw an uptick in bookings to the U.S. in the most recent quarter.
Australian corporates made 18 per cent more U.S. trips between July – September 2024, than they did during the same quarter in the year previous. The charge once again led by Brisbane-based workers, who saw a 21 per cent increase in travel over the same period.
“The growing volume of travel and the significance of the trade value is reflective in the types of industries and businesses we’re seeing travel to the U.S. – be it public or private, creative or extractive, large market or small, and all in between.
“We saw the education, government and finance sectors in particular ramping up trips to the U.S. in 2024.
“For Australian business travellers, the U.S. has always been a top-five international travel destination, and as we approach the inauguration of a new administration in January 2025, there are new relationships to be built for Australian businesses and governments.”
