Brisbane Airport, located in Queensland, Australia, and the country’s third busiest in terms of revenue traffic, marked its first 100 years of operations on April 1, 2025. To mark the occasion, the airport authority has unveiled a new corporate logo and brand identity that will be rolled out across its entire operation in the coming months. According to the airport, the new logo “reflects the ongoing transformation of Queensland’s most important gateway.”
The new Brisbane Airport logo retains the iconic jet streams of logos from the last decades, although in the latest incarnation of the logo, are now “represented as ribbons that convey a greater sense of motion and freedom. The colors of the ribbons reflect the journey from land, over sea, to sky, mirroring the experience of taking off for a flight.”
Sarah Whyte, Head of Communications & Brand Marketing at Brisbane Airport, said in a statement issued by the airport that the time was right for a brand refresh. “With our centenary, major improvements of both the Domestic and International terminals underway, and our AUD 5 billion ‘Future BNE’ transformation well advanced, the timing feels right,” she said.
“In the years since we last refreshed our brand, the city of Brisbane has changed, the way we market our destination has evolved, and so has the airport. This new look reflects not only those changes but also the exciting new era that we’re entering as both the airport and Brisbane transform in the lead-up to 2032 and beyond.” Whyte added.
While the update to the brand may simply be a symbolic nod to the fact that the airport is marking its centenary year in 2025, Whyte emphasized in the statement that the primary focus for Brisbane Airport remained the improvement of passenger facilities and services, and the infrastructure needed by its airline customers.
“As a marketer, I’m very aware that our passengers care about their experience of traveling through the airport far more than they care about our logo,” she said. “But in addition to all the work we’re doing to make using the airport better, it’s important we also send a visual message about the optimism and excitement that is pervading Brisbane right now.
“And we also want the 20,000 people who work on-site here to share the excitement we have about the years to come, and the important role that their airport will continue to play in the life of this region. Our previous logo was designed to be quite corporate and business-like, but today we want to signal a sense of anticipation, excitement, and the limitless possibilities that aviation brings. We think our new logo does that,” Whyte commented.
“We were honored to help reinvigorate the Brisbane Airport brand as it embraces an exciting future,” said Andrew Begg, CEO & Creative Director of Traffic Brand Agency which was consulted on the rebranding project. “The vibrant new brandmark, inspired by jet streams reflects Brisbane’s spirit and energy. The design system, draws inspiration from the dynamic shapes of the airport apron, forming containers for essential information. It captures a sense of freedom and progress while staying true to the airport’s heritage and vision of connecting to the world and creating the future,” he added.
100 years of flights
Brisbane Airport first opened to air traffic in 1925, when the Queensland state government officially opened Eagle Farm Aerodrome located on 36 hectares of former agricultural land outside of the growing city. At the start of April 1925, the airport’s inaugural groundsman, Andrew Lauchland, moved into the caretaker’s cottage of the Eagle Farm Aerodrome, marking the official start of air operations at the site.
In 1988, due to the growth both in air traffic and the Brisbane conurbation itself, the airport was relocated 3 miles (5km) away from the growing city towards the edge of Moreton Bay as it prepared to welcome tens of thousands of visitors to Expo 88 held in the city.
In January 2025 (the most recent month for which published data is available), 638,800 international travelers passed through Brisbane Airport’s terminal, representing 109% of pre-Covid levels for the month of January, while domestic passengers reached 104% of pre-pandemic levels.
According to the airport statement, passengers and airport workers will start to see the refreshed branding being rolled out through 2025, which will see it being applied across terminal digital signs, social media channels, and the airport’s website.
“We’ve been working towards this for a number of years, removing old logos from thousands of locations across the airport,” Whyte said. “It seems our predecessors stamped a logo on anything that didn’t breathe, and there are still some vintage examples in the deepest darkest corners. We’re having some fun with the Brisbane Airport teams to help us sleuth them all out,” Whyte shared.
