On Friday, 1 August 2025, I asked the Director General of the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation about the amount of public funds spent on attracting aviation, and the numbers of night time flights receiving those subsidies.
You can read my questions and the Director General and Minister's responses below, or in the official Parliamentary record of proceedings here.
Mr BERKMAN: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am always ready with a question. I have been listening to the member for Cairns’s questions about the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund. I think I am coming at it from a slightly different angle, so I apologise if there is any repetition. Are you able to tell the committee the total amount of funding that was spent by the AAIF in the last financial year? Is that a number that can be readily given?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is that question for the director-general?
Mr BERKMAN: I intended it for the director-general.
Mr POWELL: Can I seek some clarification? With the AAIF, you enter into a contract, so there might be an initial up-front payment but then there are contractual payments over a number of years. Is the member asking for any new contracts entered into in the last financial year, or is he asking for new contracts entered into plus ongoing contractual payments?
Mr BERKMAN: Total spend is what I was getting at.
Mr POWELL: Total spend is much clearer. I thank the member for that. We will commit to get that information and come back before the end of the session.
Mr BERKMAN: I have some other related questions, if I might, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have asked these questions in previous years. You would be well aware of the significant impact flight noise is having on urban communities, including my electorate. Can you provide the details of the weekly number of flights and the flight numbers for routes that have been subsidised under the AAIF since the beginning of the last financial year? I appreciate it might not be something that can be given now, but that list has been provided previously and there are the four additional flights that have been mentioned in this session.
Mr POWELL: We would have to go away and crunch that level of detail, as in the number of flights—and I assume the member is only seeking Brisbane as well. To be blunt, that probably should have been put as a question on notice. Let’s see what we can do between now and the conclusion of this session. Can I just be clear: in addition to the total spend on the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund for 2024-25, the member is seeking the number of flights per week being added to Brisbane through AAIF funding; is that correct?
Mr BERKMAN: I am talking about the total number. I realise there have been flights added over the last financial year. You listed those four previously. In previous estimates hearings we have been given a comprehensive list of the flight numbers that have been subsidised under AAIF. Additionally, I am keen to know, which we have been provided previously, how many of these flights arrive or depart between 10 am and 6 pm. I am sure the former minister can remember me badgering him about this in previous years.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I think the minister and the director-general have an understanding of the question. There is a high level of detail there.
Mr POWELL: What I can share is that through the course of the AAIF funding there are 26 new flights in total flying into Brisbane. They include: United Airlines from San Francisco; Air Canada from Vancouver; Qatar from Doha; Qantas from Haneda and Narita; China Airlines from Taipei; Eva Airways from Taipei; Qantas from Auckland; Jetstar from Auckland; Qantas from Christchurch; Emirates from Dubai; Philippine Airlines from Manila; Korean Air from Incheon Airport, Seoul; Vietjet from Ho Chi Minh; Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong; Jetstar from Incheon; Jetstar from Osaka; China Southern from Guangzhou; China Eastern from Shanghai; Singapore Airlines from Singapore; American Airlines from Dallas Fort Worth; Delta Airlines from Los Angeles; Qantas from Manila; Jetstar from Bangkok—and, as I said before—Virgin from Doha; and Malaysia Airlines from Kuala Lumpur. You are saying after 10 pm?
Mr BERKMAN: Between 10 pm and 6 am.
Mr POWELL: An average weekly schedule in June 2025 at Brisbane Airport has nine AAIF supported services that have flights which are scheduled to arrive and/or depart between 10 pm and 6 am, which is approximately 68 inbound and outbound flights per week.
Mr BERKMAN: Thank you kindly. If I could just push my luck with one further question. Given that I have just learned about the Connecting Queensland Fund, is there going to be any stipulation around flights that are subsidised or funded under the Connecting Queensland Fund? Will they be required to fly at hours that are not going to increase particularly that late-night air traffic in and around Brisbane?
Mr POWELL: As I was just explaining, whilst we will be continuing to explore strategic international flights—and I mentioned the India to Queensland flight that will fly into Brisbane; I am not sure at what time as it is still a number of years off—the real focus of the Connecting Queensland Fund is interstate and intrastate flights. All Aussies and Queenslanders would rather fly during the day than overnight. Whilst I will not speculate on numbers and so on, the vast focus of the Connecting Queensland Fund will be moving people around the state.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Director-General, did you have something to add?
Ms O’Callaghan: I have an answer around the expenditure on AAIF in the last financial year. To close that question out—and we have data since the machinery-of-government changes—as of 1 November, $9,951,572 has been spent.
Mr BERKMAN: The precision is admirable, thank you.