Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) has entered into a Sister Airport agreement with the Chongqing Airport Group of China, which will see the two airports share expertise on operational and commercial development and tourism market development.
The Sister Airport agreement reflects the close ties between Brisbane and Chongqing developed under the Sister City relationship since 2005. Andrew Brodie, BAC general manager for airline and retail management, signed the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on BAC’s behalf, and said the most important outcome of the MOU was the agreement to work cooperatively toward a direct service between the mega-market of Chongqing, with its 30 million plus residents, and Brisbane.
Brodie said, “We are pleased to be able to work closely with the Lord Mayor and Brisbane City Council, through Brisbane Marketing, to leverage the strong ties they have developed in a number of sister cities across China.
“Government support is essential to our success in developing more direct aviation ties with China and this new airport agreement is a good example of how we can work together to advance the interests of Brisbane and the region.”
Chongqing Airport is a major aviation hub for western China, servicing more than 35 million passengers annually. Last month the airport opened its latest terminal, Terminal 3, which is now one of the largest airport terminal buildings in the world.
The 530,000m² (5,700,000ft²) terminal, which began construction in August 2012, has 94 aircraft parking stands, giving it an annual capacity of 45 million passengers and 373,000 aircraft movements.