Launceston Airport is preparing for the busiest day in its history when thousands of Foo Fighters fans descend on the city next month.
More than 6,700 passengers are expected to travel through the airport on January 23, the day before the American rock band’s concert.
The figure surpasses Boxing Day, which had been forecast as the busiest day of the holiday period with 6,410 passengers.
Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar have all added services between January 23 and 26 to cater for concertgoers.
Virgin has added 1,700 seats while Qantas and Jetstar have put on an extra 3,000 seats through additional flights and larger aircraft.
The airport is expecting a record summer overall, with more than 250,000 passengers forecast between December 19 and February 4.
That represents a 22% increase on the same period last year.
Launceston Airport head of planning, development and customer Ilya Brucksch said terminal upgrades completed this year would help manage the influx.
“We’ve worked really hard over the last twelve months to upgrade the terminal for periods like this,” Brucksch said.
“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 has resumed its seasonal Brisbane service and all three major airlines are now running twice-daily flights to Sydney.
The airport has finished construction works ahead of the peak period, with a Christmas market now open in the arrivals hall.
Brucksch encouraged passengers to allow extra time when travelling.
“We’ll have more staff on to help your holiday plans go smoothly this summer,” he said.
The Foo Fighters will perform at UTAS Stadium as an exclusive Australian show in January.
