More International Flights for Brisbane Airport

By Andrew Curran.

Brisbane Airport (BNE) will see additional international flights in 2026, with Qantas, Jetstar, and Air New Zealand boosting services into Queensland’s capital.

As reported by Aero Routes, Qantas will boost frequencies on the Brisbane – Port Vila (VLI) city pair from three to seven per week from March 29, 2026.

Capacity won’t increase significantly because the airline will swap the current 174-passenger B737-800 operating the route to the E190 (which seat either 94 or 97 passengers, depending on the particular operating aircraft). It’s an overall gain of around 200 seats per week on the city-pair.

Meanwhile, Qantas has reversed previous plans to scale back its flights between Brisbane and Manila (MNL) and Brisbane and Singapore (SIN).

The airline had tentatively scheduled to cut its Manila round-trips from five to four per week from March 29, 2026, and also to reduce its Singapore round-trips from ten to nine per week. However, Qantas will maintain the status quo.

Low-cost subsidiary Jetstar has previously announced plans to start three times weekly A321-200LR-operated round-trips between Brisbane and Rarotonga (RAR) from May 18, 2026.

“This new route builds on the incredible demand we’re seeing out of Queensland,” said Jetstar CEO Stephanie Tully.

Air New Zealand to start Brisbane - Queenstown flights

Separately, Air New Zealand has confirmed that it will start thrice weekly A320-200N seasonal flights between Brisbane and Queenstown (ZQN) in June 2026.

The flights, which will operate between June 22 and October 23, 2026, will add 1,128 weekly seats on the city pair that is already served by Qantas, Jetstar, and Virgin Australia.

Brisbane Airport CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said New Zealand was his airport’s top international two-way market. Regular flights link Brisbane to Auckland (AKL), Wellington (WLG), and Christchurch (CHC), as well as Queenstown.

In recent months, China Southern Airlines has also said that it will operate double daily A350-900 flights between Brisbane and Guangzhou (CAN) between mid-December 2025 and early March 2026 – capitalising on the Southern Hemisphere summer peak season.

American Airlines is also currently busy breaking in seasonal flights between Brisbane and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW).

All up, Brisbane Airport is now directly connected to 35 international destinations. On September 26, the airport marked its busiest day on record, with 82,779 passengers passing through the airport.

 Photo: Brisbane Airport Corporation.