Brisbane Airport (BNE) has become the first Australian airport to seal a deal with Shanghai Airports Authority (SAA) designed to strengthen relationships and boost aviation links between Australia and China.

 

The Memorandum of Understanding with SAA outlines a commitment on both sides to explore market demands, develop air route network, and provide better services to customers. This will be achieved through sharing information about airport planning and construction, safety, IT, customer services, route development, and airport business development.

 

State-owned SAA is vastly bigger than Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) which operates BNE. The Chinese authority runs both Shanghai-Pudong (PVG) and Shanghai-Hongqiao (SHA) International airports and in 2013, it oversaw some 82.7m passengers: 48.8m through Pudong and 33.8m through Hongqiao.

 

By comparison, Queensland’s BNE – the third largest airport in Australia by passenger numbers – processed 21.8m passengers in 2013/14. It has a strong service record, being rated as Australia’s top airport for quality of service 10 years in a row in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission surveys.

 

BAC Managing Director and CEO, Julieanne Alroe, says: “The relationship with SAA is based on information sharing, personnel exchanges and working together on collaborative projects. Importantly, we aim to establish Brisbane and Shanghai as the major gateways for services between China and Australia.”

 

Top: The MOU was signed on Friday in a special ceremony in Shanghai attended by SAA President, Jing Yi Ming (right) and Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) CEO and Managing Director, Julieanne Alroe (left).