Live Departures from Brisbane Airport (BNE), Brisbane

Brisbane Airport is the main airport for Queensland's capital and the third-busiest in Australia, behind Sydney and Melbourne. It sits about 14 kilometres north-east of the city centre near the mouth of the Brisbane River, and handles the full mix of traffic: domestic trunk routes down the east coast, regional services into Queensland, and international long-haul across the Asia-Pacific and beyond.

It serves greater Brisbane and much of South East Queensland, and acts as the connecting point for travellers heading on to the Sunshine Coast, the outback, and the mining and resource towns of the state's north and west. Two parallel runways and round-the-clock operations make it one of the busier hubs in the country.

Qantas and Virgin Australia run the domestic trunk between Brisbane and the other capitals, with Jetstar covering the low-cost end and leisure routes. QantasLink and other regional operators fly the turboprop network into Queensland towns and resource centres, the kind of short hops that a jet wouldn't pay for. Brisbane is a hub for both Qantas and Virgin Australia, so the domestic schedule here is deep.

On the international side the airport is a long-haul hub for the region. Qantas and Virgin Australia fly the wider network, and a steady set of Asian, Middle Eastern, Pacific and North American carriers serve Brisbane direct, with the strongest density across Asia and the Pacific. Aircraft range from narrowbody A320s and 737s on the short routes up to widebodies on the long-haul services.

Brisbane has two terminals, Domestic and International, sitting a couple of kilometres apart and linked by a paid Airtrain shuttle and a road transfer. The Airtrain also runs on the city rail line, so you can reach either terminal directly from central Brisbane and the Gold Coast without changing to a bus. Taxis, rideshare and airport parking cover the rest, with both short-stay and long-stay car parks at each terminal.

Check-in and security are what you'd expect of a major capital airport: full bag-drop and self-service kiosks, and queues that build at the morning and evening domestic peaks, so leave room at those times. The International terminal has the usual lounge spread, including Qantas and partner-airline lounges, and there are lounges on the domestic side for Qantas and Virgin Australia members and eligible passengers.