Brisbane Airport welcomes back international students

The influx of overseas students has started at Brisbane Airport with the Class of ‘23 beginning to arrive for the resumption of face-to-face learning later this month.

The international education and training (IET) sector was Queensland’s largest services export in 2022 valued at $3 billion. It was also one of the first industries impacted by COVID, with earnings last year down 48 per cent compared to the pre-pandemic levels.

Now with key markets including China reopening, the on-campus recovery is expected to accelerate in 2023. In December 2022, Queensland’s student visa lodgements grew, increasing by 31 per cent compared to pre-COVID levels, from 7,170 to 9,400 applications.

Friday is shaping up as the peak arrival day, with more than 100 students booked on a single flight – CX155 from Hong Kong.

“The return of overseas students is extremely significant for South East Queensland’s economy. Visiting students inject billions of dollars into the Australian economy,” Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO Gert-Jan de Graaff said.

“China is a critical market, and our aviation team is actively engaging with airlines to bring back direct services to make it easier for students and tourists to connect to Brisbane and Queensland.”

The minister responsible for international education and training, Stirling Hinchliffe, said 2023 is an important year of recovery for Queensland’s $5.8 billion smart economy.

“The welcome arrival of overseas students in Queensland over coming weeks is another very promising green shoot of recovery for education exports,” Hinchliffe said.

“With the reopening of overseas borders and more international aircraft in the air, we’re expecting the rapid arrival of many thousands of international students in Queensland ahead of first semester.

“Study Queensland’s roadmap identifies the runway to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games as an enormous opportunity to grow Queensland’s education export share.”

The top five key markets for Queensland are (as at 30 November 2022):

– China – 21%

– India – 13%

– Brazil – 7%

– Colombia – 6%

– Nepal – 5%

Around 30 per cent of arriving overseas students study on campuses outside of Brisbane, including the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba.

Serena Xiong has just arrived from Shenzhen in China to study economics at The University of Queensland.