NEWSPORT NEWSFEED: Cairns Airport flies high again

Thursday, November 21

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Cairns Airport has been named Major Airport of the Year at the Australian Airports Association (AAA) National Airport Industry Awards, for a second year in a row. Celebrating at the event in Brisbane on Wednesday 20 November (L-R) were Cairns Airport team members James Dalziel (Landside Infrastructure Manager), Alicia Prince (Head of Operations), Sheree Gall (Safety and Infrastructure Manager) and Mark Henriksen (Works Delivery Manager). Picture: Australian Airports Association

Cairns Airport was named Major Airport of the Year at the Australian Airports Association (AAA) National Airport Industry Awards 2024, held in Brisbane on Thursday night.

This is the second year in a row Cairns Airport has taken out this category at the AAA National Airport Industry Awards. Earlier this year, Cairns Airport was also named Airport of the Year at the Australian Aviation Awards, again for the second time in a row.

Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer Richard Barker said he was so proud of the Cairns Airport team and their commitment to our community and region.

“This award recognises our team’s determination during the unprecedented flood last year. Our mammoth effort to reopen the aerodrome produced an exceptional outcome for our community, stakeholders and industry.  

“Critically, we continued to hit the ground running amidst the recovery, delivering significant international growth for Tropical North Queensland. We have Fiji Airways and Air Asia Indonesia flying to Cairns for the first time and announced the first direct connection to Christchurch with Jetstar, commencing in April.

“We are also just weeks away from the return of Cathay Pacific, which will complement Singapore Airlines’ A350 widebody services, another huge success of 2024. Our international passenger numbers are consistently exceeding pre-COVID figures and there’s more to look forward to as we approach 2025. 

“The Cairns Airport team are innovative and resilient when faced with challenges, and we are proud to support our community, many whom remain in our thoughts as they continue to recover after the devastating floods.”

 

Scientists hit Port for coral spawning season

A group of marine scientists have descended on Port Douglas this week in an effort to scale up coral-restoration efforts during spawning season.

Marine experts from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Australian Institute of Marine Science are in town to help teach tourism operators and other industry representatives an innovative new restoration technique known as “coral IVF”, held in conjunction with overnight coral spawning.

The Great Barrier Reef spawning season is the largest coral spawning event on the planet.

 

A damn good Douglas news story

The latest edition of Newsport Print is now out on the streets, with a new stockist in BP Port Douglas among the many outlets across the Shire where you can pick up your FREE copy. And we have the story of a local partnership working very hard to tell the story of our community. FULL STORY

 

Report suggests reef bleaching is “catastrophic”

Australia must do much more to battle climate change to help the Great Barrier Reef, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) said after the latest underwater reef survey showed unprecedented damage from the catastrophic summer, including this year’s mass coral bleaching event. FULL STORY

 

Fiji flights a tourism boost

An announcement by Fiji Airways that it will launch direct services to Cairns from April 10 is tipped to speed up recovery from the North American market, according to Tourism Tropical North Queensland. FULL STORY

 

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