As well as checking for the departure gate, Brisbane airport passengers using Qantas will now need to take note of which group they have been assigned.
From this week, Qantas has introduced a new Group Boarding process for domestic flights out of Brisbane.
Qantas Domestic CEO Markus Svensson said the new approach was already used by airlines overseas, but this was the first time it had been adopted in Australia.
“Group Boarding allows customers to board within smaller groups, rather than queuing up with all passengers waiting to board at the same time,” Mr Svensson said.
He said passengers would be allocated to one of six boarding groups, which would be displayed on boarding passes.
“The groups are determined by cabin, Frequent Flyer status, and seat position in the aircraft,” he said.
Signage and announcements at the gate will let customers know when it is their group’s turn to board.
Mr Svensson said Group Boarding was the most significant change to the airline’s boarding processes in a decade.
“Group Boarding is designed to minimise the time our customers spend waiting to board and allows them to get settled more quickly.”
He said the full implementation followed a series of trials which found the process helped contribute towards flights departing on time.
Group Boarding will apply to all domestic flights operated by Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft departing from Brisbane from this week, with Perth (June 10), Melbourne (June 17) and Sydney (June 25) to follow.
