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Launceston Airport is expecting its busiest-ever day this month with a Foo Fighters concert to bring thousands of passengers.
The exclusive concert, to be held at University of Tasmania Stadium on 24 January, will see around 6,700 passengers travel through Launceston the day before, with Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar all putting on extra flights to meet the anticipated demand.
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“We’ve worked really hard over the last 12 months to upgrade the terminal for periods like this,” said Launceston Airport head of planning, development and customer Ilya Brucksch.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have the Foo Fighters playing in Launceston, but it’s equally exciting to see the uplift in capacity from our airline partners across the summer period which is driving record numbers.
“Qantas’ seasonal service to Brisbane has recommenced, and all three jet operators are now flying twice a day to Sydney.”
QantasLink will operate two additional flights between Launceston and each of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from 23 to 26 January, with Jetstar also increasing capacity by using larger aircraft over the period, said Qantas Domestic CEO Markus Svensson.
“The January long weekend is already one of the busiest travel periods for Tasmania, so it’s Times Like These that we need to add flights to help fans,” he said.
“As soon as the concert was announced, we saw a spike in bookings and we know more fans will want to lock in their travel when they secure event tickets.
“The extra services will give thousands of interstate fans more options to reach Tasmania, with extra capacity added on flights from cities across the country.”
Virgin Australia, meanwhile, is adding two extra flights to each of Melbourne and Sydney over the long weekend, with chief strategy and transformation officer Alistair Hartley saying this will “help fans make the pilgrimage south for what promises to be a bumper travel weekend for Tasmania”.
“We have the broadest jet network between Launceston and the mainland, with direct services from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, making it easier for fans to fly directly to the concert,” he said.
“It’s shaping up to be one of the busiest travel weekends of 2026 for northern Tasmania, and we’ll keep monitoring bookings to determine if more seats are needed.”
Launceston Airport in 2025 embarked on major terminal renovations and completed works on a new reinforced taxiway.
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