The massive changes coming to Brisbane Airport

Travellers flying to or from Brisbane Airport will experience major changes to their journey over the coming years as the international terminal undergoes not just extensive renovations but a near-total transformation.

There’ll be streamlined immigration and security, which will also be relocated to the upper level 4, upgraded baggage systems – and of course, more shops and dining options, including a doubling of the duty-free retail zone.

Altogether, they represent the most significant changes to the terminal since it opened 29 years ago.

“Our International Terminal is Queensland's gateway to the world,” declares Brisbane Airport CEO, Gert-Jan de Graaff.

“After three decades of service, it’s well and truly time for a transformation, ensuring it’s ready to welcome the world for years to come.”

De Graaff will reveal full details of the makeover this morning when he presents the keynote opening address at the aviation industry’s CAPA Summit held at The Star Brisbane, but here’s a sneak peek at what’s in store.

The departures area will open to banks of self-service check-in kiosks and bag drop facilities for all airlines, although check-in desks will remain for an “agent-led experience.”

Work is already underway on this, one check-in row at a time; row 7 has already been remodelled to the “new-generation check-in” system and is serving as a live trial, with positive response from travellers and airline staff, de Graaff says. “It’s a giant leap from the 1990s to now.”

Travellers will then make their way to a photo-friendly ‘landmark’ feature to mark the start of their journey.

Directly behind this will be the new area for security screening and passport control, which are being relocated from a windowless space on Level 3 to the light-filled atrium on Level 4.

A total of 84 Rapiscan Computed Tomography ‘3D’ screening and detection systems will let passengers leave their laptops, toiletries and other liquids and gels in their bags. “It’s faster, smoother, and provides more accurate screening,” promises de Graaff.

The same technology is also being installed in Brisbane’s domestic terminal to meet the Australian Government’s requirement for upgraded airport security screening to be in place by the end of 2025.

Passengers will then do a U-turn to loop back around to the passport control checkpoint, before heading down to a re-imagined Level 3 with a vastly expanded duty-free zone plus 31 “new dining experiences and speciality stores.”

And there’ll be bits of Brisbane’s history embedded in the terminal’s terrazzo benchtops and furniture through the re-use of a volcanic rock called Brisbane tuff, first quarried at the Kangaroo Point Cliffs from the 1880s and used in some of Brisbane’s oldest buildings.

Hidden deep below in the bowels of BNE, an all-new baggage handling area is already under construction, with the centrepiece being an energy-efficient ‘best-in-class’ conveyor system and screening equipment.

The arrivals zone on Level 2 is also being refreshed with new furniture and retail outlets.

So just how long will all this take? While the new security systems must be in place by the end of December 2025, Brisbane Airport says remainder of the works will be completed by 2027.

However, “carefully optimised staging of the project will minimise impacts for passengers and airlines throughout construction.”

The international terminal project is part of the $5 billion Future BNE transformation, which extends to the construction of the all-new Terminal 3 located between the airport’s two parallel runways, which will eventually host both domestic and international flights.